Cougars Evolve
Cougars (Puma concolor) evolve from a common ancestor with the African cheetah and American jaguarundi.
Oldest Cougar Fossils
Oldest known fossil records of cougars
Pleistocene Extinctions
Cougars in North America believed to have been extirpated during the Pleistocene extinctions
North American Recolonization
Cougars believed to have recolonized North America from a small founder group in South America
Spanish Explorers & Cougars
Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca observes a cougar in Florida, becoming perhaps the first European in North America to see one.
Jesuit Priests Encourage Cougar Killings
Jesuit priests in Southern California offer a bounty of one bull to Native Americans for every cougar killed.
Bounty Hunting in Connecticut
Connecticut enacts bounty on cougar.
Bounty Hunting in Massachusetts
Massachusetts enacts bounty on cougar.
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase adds more than 800 thousand miles to the U.S.
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark began the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back.
Bounty Hunting in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania enacts bounty on cougar.
Bounty Hunting in Oregon
Oregon territory enacts bounty on cougar.
Cougars Become Rare in the East
Due to extermination by humans, cougar are considered rare in the eastern two-thirds of the continent, with some perhaps surviving in the remote areas of Maine, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia and Florida.
Vermont Cougars Disappear
Last cougar believed killed in Vermont.
Utah's "Obnoxious Animals"
Utah Territorial Legislature classifies cougars as an "obnoxious animal and establishes bounty.
Pennsylvania's Cougars Disappear
Last cougar believed killed in Pennsylvania.
Cougars Disappear, East of Mississippi River
Cougars effectively exterminated from most states east of the Mississippi River, with a small population remaining in Florida.
Bounty Hunting in Washington
Washington enacts bounty on cougar.
Bounty Hunting in California
California enacts bounty on cougar.
Last Wisconsin Cougar Killed
Last "official" native cougar killed in Wisconsin.
Bounty Hunting in British Columbia
British Columbia enacts bounty on cougar.
Bounty Hunting in Idaho
Idaho enacts bounty on cougar.
New Mexico Ends Bounty Hunting
New Mexico ends cougar bounty program.
Bounty Hunting in Colorado
Colorado enacts bounty on cougar.
Animal Damage Control Act
Congress passes the Animal Damage Control Act, giving the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to investigate and control certain predatory or wild animals and nuisance mammal and bird species, further involving the federal government in eradicating predators
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold publishes Game Management.
First Scientific Studies of Cougars
Frank Hibben begins in New Mexico and Arizona one of the first scientific studies of cougars.
"The Puma: Mysterious American Cat"
Stanley Young and E.A. Goldman publish "The Puma: Mysterious American Cat" - the most comprehensive review of information on cougar at that time.
Bounty Hunting in Arizona
Arizona enacts bounty on cougar.
Cougars Classified as Game Animals
Florida classifies cougar as a game animal.
British Columbia Ends Bounty Hunting
British Columbia ends bounty program.
Protection for Florida Panthers
Florida fully protects Florida panthers.
Utah Ends Bounty Hunting
Utah ends bounty program.
Idaho Ends Bounty Hunting
Idaho ends bounty program
Washington Ends Bounty Hunting
Washington ends bounty program.
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Published
Rachel Carson publishes the book Silent Spring, which documented detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment and particularly birds and is widely credited as helping launch the environmental movement.
Montana Ends Bounty Hunting
Montana ends bounty program.
California Ends Bounty Hunting
California ends bounty program.
Hornocker Begins Field Study of Cougar Ecology
Maurice Hornocker and associates begin their seminal field study of cougar ecology and behavior in the Idaho Primitive Area in central Idaho
Congress Passes The Wilderness Act
Congress passes The Wilderness Act, creating the Natural Wilderness System and defining wilderness as "...an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
Colorado Reclassifies Cougars
Colorado reclassifies cougar as big game species
Nevada Reclassifies Cougars
Nevada reclassifies cougars as a game animal.
Washington Reclassifies Cougars
Washington reclassifies cougars as a game animal.
Endangered Species Preservation Act
Congress passes the Endangered Species Preservation Act
Oregon Reclassifies Cougars
Oregon reclassifies cougar as big game animal.
Florida Panthers on Endangered List
Isolated population of cougars in Florida (Florida panther) listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Preservation Act
Utah Reclassifies Cougars
Utah reclassifies cougars as game animal.
California Reclassifies Cougars
California reclassifies cougars as game animal.
The First Earth Day
The first Earth Day is held on April 22, heralding the beginning of the modern environmental movement.
Arizona Ends Bounty Hunting
Arizona ends bounty program.
Hornocker Publishes Research
Maurice Hornocker publishes the results of his cougar research in "An analysis of mountain lion predation upon mule deer and elk in the Idaho Primitive Area." The study helped dispel many of the myths of cougars as insatiable killers and decimators of deer populations.
New Mexico Reclassifies Cougars
New Mexico reclassifies cougars as game mammal.
Montana Reclassifies Cougars
Montana reclassifies cougars as a game animal.
California Enacts Hunting Moratorium
California legislature passes a bill, signed by Governor Ronald Reagan, enacting a moratorium on cougar hunting.
Arizona Reclassifies Cougars
Arizona reclassifies cougars as a big game animal.
Endangered Species Act Passsed
Congress passes the Endangered Species Act, designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a 'consequence of economic growth and development untendered by adequate concern and conservation.'
Eastern Cougars Listed as Endangered
Eastern cougars are listed as a federally endangered subspecies under the Endangered Species Act.
Wyoming Reclassifies Cougars
Wyoming reclassifies cougars as a trophy game animal.
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