Preservation of the Cougar in Eastern U.S.

¶ … preservation of the cougar in eastern U.S. As well as for its survival and regeneration in areas of that district and to argue, simultaneously, that care be taken to promote its survival in other parts of the U.S.

The so-called North American cougar is only called so because, whilst, at one time, rampant in the Eastern states, it has virtually been eliminated from there due to hunting and other factors overtly and unintentionally directed to destroying its species. Whilst once commonly found in eastern N. America, it is, nowadays, more prevalent in the western states that seem to care more for its survival.

In the eastern states, the cat was almost universally known as the 'panther', but even in the western states, descendents of that ill-fated species are slowly dying out to man's neglect of the beast. The Puma concolor couguar, for instance, remains one of the few remaining population of the Eastern cougar, part of which is the critically endangered Florida panther population (Cardoza & Langlois, 2002). Many others, such as the Wisconsin Cougar (expired in 1952) are long extinct. In fact, the entire species was pronounced extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011, although a parallel Canadian association is still undecided about the category of its existence, terming the evidence "inconclusive" (Barringer, 2011).

Although several populations of the cougar are actively thriving in the western USA, extirpation of the North American cougar from eastern parts of the U.S.A. And Canada was achieved some time in the 1900s. Cougars, from Michigan, for instance, were thought to have been eliminated already by the early 1900s, late 18th century. Fortunately, there is some indication that some individuals in Michigan of that breed have survived and, if protected and sheltered, can reproduce and generate a substantial population in years to come. This is the duty of conservationists as well as of humanity alike. We are here to protect and look after the animals and make sure they flourish.

In the Appalachian Mountains and in parts of eastern Canada (Boswell, 2011), there likewise have been sightings of the possibility of small relict populations existing (as small as 50 individuals). Whilst the Ontario Puma Foundation estimate the existence of approximately 850 cougars in Ontario (Boswell, 2011). These animals too must be safely guarded and protected, with polices put in peace to ensure that no harm befalls them in order to increase and proliferate their population.

Meanwhile, hair traps in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick point to at least three cougars currently living in that area. Other scientists, however, interpret the data gained from these hair traps as pointing to a feral breeding population of former cougars that may have hybridized with relics of the native North American cougar. Still others claim that cougars from the western USA are making there way eastwards, therefore instead of relics from the original population that lived in the east, we have growth of a new population originating from the west (Cardoza & Langlois, 2002). Either way, these individuals have to be protected so that their populations are maintained and sustained for generations to come. We do not want a repetition of the animal genocide that occurred two centuries ago.

Optimistically, despite records and indications of regeneration and new birth occurring, it may also be the fact that the species was not entirely obliterated as thought. Sightings of cougars in the eastern United States continues with cougars and their offspring found in Maine, Vermont and in Michigan during the past fifteen years. Verified cougar tracks as well as their kills have been sighted in other eastern states, such as New York and Michigan, and New York itself ahs had numerous sightings of cougars in the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains. As for Michigan, numerous cougars have been glimpsed in the parts of the Upper Peninsula and, more commonly, recently in the lower part of Michigan. This indicates their exodus and moving around and may also point to their regeneration and reproduction. Cougars, too, have been sighted in parts of Virginia (Barringer, 2011). Most of these cougars, it is true, may be former captive animals released or escaped, but it may also well be that they indicate existence of sustained breeding population that are in the habit of migrating.

The cougar is a gentle beast to humans. Its primary food includes ungulates such as deer. Other species that it likes to hunt are rodents and insects. Being a reclusive cat, it usually avoids humans with attacks on people being rare. It gives better than it received, making it an unfair target for humans.

Excessive hunting of the species following the European colonialization of America in the late 1900s veritably eliminated the breed from the eastern parts of the state except of an isolated sub-population, small though it was, in Florida. In 1973, the eastern cougar was listed as endangered under the provisions of the Endangered Species act of 1973 (Cardoza & Langlois, 2002). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently begun a review of scientific and commercial information to determine the status of the Eastern cougar. The organization estimates the existence of thousands of captive cougars in the United States, but has no clear number as to its exact amount.

Ironically, as David Baron in an opinion piece in the New York Times (July 28, 2011), observed:

The cougar showed up in the East just three months after the Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar extinct…. Perhaps this red-state cougar traveled east to send a message to Washington: the federal government can make pronouncements about where cougars are not supposed to be found, but a cat's going to go where a cat wants to go.

Perhaps it also sent a message to Washington and to people in general that it had survived and would survive but needs us to assist its survival.

Today the eastern cougar is still endangered, not so much through hunting and trapping as before, but to habitat destruction, a new menace. Due to primitive sentiments of fear and dislike toward the cat, many states are having a challenging time in convincing their citizens to protect the animal. In Chicago, for instance, a cougar was recently shot.