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The Animal Welfare Cause
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Loading...Eastern Cougar Declared Extinct
This Wednesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar extinct and is now moving forward with plans to remove them from the Endangered Species Act.
While many suspected that cougars, otherwise known as catamount, mountain cat, mountain lion, panther, or puma, had been wiped out in the east for a while, others believed they were still here eluding humans as to their whereabouts, which lead to their nickname “ghost cat.”
At least 108 sightings have been reported between 1900 and 2010, although none of them were confirmed. Most were believed to have been western cougars spotted during migration, or domesticated or captive cougars that got loose.
In 2007, the UWFWS began a review of trail cameras, eyewitness accounts and road kill reports and is now confident that the eastern cougar is extinct. It’s been 70 years since the last confirmed sighting in Maine.
Eastern cougars once thrived, but became the victims of overzealous hunting and bounties and also suffered from a decline of white-tailed deer, their main prey, which lead to their decline. They were added to the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
The loss of a top predator has lead to a vast increase in deer populations and a decline in forest health in the east. Some experts believe that the western cougar will eventually makes its way east to fill in the gap.
Others including organizations, such as the Cougar Rewilding Foundation, would like to see a reintroduction of wolves and cougars, but expect that suggestions or plans to do so would meet opposition.
“Our ecosystems are collapsing up and down the East Coast, and they’re collapsing because we have too many white-tailed deer,” said Christopher Spatz, the organizations president. “Our forests are not being permitted to regenerate.”
He added that cougars and wolves would naturally thin the deer herd through direct predation while also acting as “natural shepherds,” forcing deer to become more vigilant and “stop browsing like cattle.”
Read more: animal welfare, big cats, eastern cougar, endangered species act, extinct, fish and wildlife service, ghost cat
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+ add your ownChristan: I think that's an excellent idea!
I think cougars should be introduced into Congress, at this point. (a joke, for those of you literal-minded boobs who might for a nanosecond think that was serious).
Cougars should be reintroduced into the East and new laws should be imposed to protect their existence. Unfortunately, I do not expect this to be a near future occurrence.
The problem is, just like the reintroduction of wolves in the western states, the cougars will eventually become a target of uncalled for trapping and hunting once they will be seen as "a nuisance". Definetely there is an issue with the number and spread of white tail deer, and the ticks borne diseases that follow in their wake. This is, yet again, a prime example of humans' detrimental effect on our planet, and how we have messed up again.
No, no use to reintroduce the beautiful cats - the poor creatures would only be killed by the only truly disgusting species ever to live on this beautiful planet - you know which that is.
The bastards have been trying to do this for a long time. Oh well, at least one less precious part of nature House Republicans will need to destroy.
What a beautiful creature, this just shows the sad state of the world that humans impose on animals :(
This is always sad news....I really hope the species will reapear but from the sounds of it that is not happening ): Every species play its role on the planet...
I've seen some very large feline tracks (much larger than bobcat) while hiking here in Massachusetts. We can only hope that they really are still here, just smart enough to be very, very elusive.
The downward spiral of the demise of Earth starts now. : (
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