Our goal of getting the Cougar re-established East of the Mississippi has been made more difficult with the likely De-listing by USFW of what was called the Eastern Cougar(due to it being declared extinct in the wild)..As Cougar biologist and friend of this blog, John Laundre declares boldly: " We need to stop nitpicking about whether the eastern cougar, Florida panther, or whatever is endangered and accept that, as the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, cougars, mountain lions, panthers, painters, catamounts, whatever you want to call them are endangered in the East and we have just as much responsibility under the endangered species act to recover these populations as we did for eagles and falcons"

Sender's Email : noahsudarsky@gmail.com
Referrer : http://kontactr.com/user.php?name=rick.meril
Dear Rick,
I just came across your terrific blog. I'm authoring National Geographic Magazine's first article on free-ranging mountain lions, scheduled for 2012.  I'm already in the thick of it, meeting a bunch of scientists tomorrow in San Fran, along with my editor.  Checking out the Santa Cruz study Friday. There's a lot of great people working out there. Just wanted to thank you for this, and give you the head's up. Any particular info of note you come across but wouldn't necessarily put out, let me know. Cheers, nms

Noah...................there are three people you should communicate with.regarding the prospects of cougar recovery East of the Mississippi(outside of the remnant cats in Florida).......................Mark McCollough(USFW) .... Helen McGinnis(Cougar Rewildling.org)............and John Laundre(Cougar biologist who works with Cougar Rewilding.org...................

.scroll down the length of this email and you will see their email addresses in parts of the communiques we have all had back and forth.....................Please stay in touch and I thank you so much for your kind comments regarding the blog....................


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Eastern cougar Questions and answers about the five-year review March 2011
-MARK MCCOLLOUGH

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has completed a review of all available information about the eastern cougar, which has been on the endangered species list since 1973. The review concludes that the eastern cougar is extinct. Although cougars are seen occasionally in the East, no evidence exists that they are the subspecies known as eastern cougars. 1. What was the historical range of the eastern cougar? The eastern cougar range extended from Maine south to Georgia, east into eastern Missouri and eastern Illinois, and north to Michigan and Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, Canada. 2. Why did eastern cougar populations become extinct?
European immigrants killed cougars to protect themselves and their livestock. Many states offered a bounty to encourage the killing of cougars. The white-tailed deer, the primary prey of the cougar, was nearly extinct in eastern North America by the late 1800s. The last records of eastern cougars are believed to be in Maine (1938) and New Brunswick (1932).

 3. Why did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiate a review of the eastern cougar, and what is its purpose? The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the Service to conduct a review of each protected species every 5 years to ensure the accuracy of its classification. The review is based onthe best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. At  the conclusion of a review, the Service can affirm that the species is correctly classified, recommend reclassification of a species (endangered to threatened; threatened to endangered), or recommend removal of the species from the endangered species list. Any change in classification must undergo a formal rulemaking process, including the opportunity for public comment. 4. Can the public comment on the five-year status review for the eastern cougar? There is no formal public commentperiod on the 5-year status review; but, the Service will accept and considerinformation electronic mailed to Mark_McCollough@fws.gov. Decisions are made on the best available scientificand commercial information. 5. When was the status of the eastern cougar last reviewed? The Service has not prepared a formal status review of the eastern cougar since its recovery plan was published in 1982.

 The Service prioritized its limited resources to protect at-risk species with known populations. 6. Why did the Service write a recovery plan for the eastern cougar in 1982 when biologists believed the subspecies was extinct?
Although no breeding population of eastern cougar was known in 1982, Service biologists at that time believed it was possible that the eastern cougar still survived in a few remote areas of its historical range. 7. What would the Service consider proof of the existence of an eastern cougar population? Even small populations of cougars, such as those in Florida and North and South Dakota, leave substantial physical evidence (tracks, photographs, scat, hair, genetic samples, road mortalities, cougars shot or caught in traps). Service biologists assembled 108 records dating from 1900 to 2010 with a high level of confirmation that the described animals were cougars. After careful examination, the biologists concluded all reported cougars were animals that escaped or were released from captivity or that dispersed from the western United States. There is no evidence that a breeding population of cougars occurs in the
eastern United States or eastern Canada other than those in Florida (Florida panther).
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Helen................see Mark's response to our concern about USFW not putting a Cougar Recovery plan in place for the Eastern USA habitat that can support Cougars.............................................I agree with John Laundre(below) that like the Eagle and Pegrine Falcoln, forget about the mumbo/jumbo of subspecies or no subspecies..................the cougar once roamed all of North America.................most feel that a cougar is a cougar is a cougar regardless of geographic locale................they were extirpated by us.....................time to put them back on the ground................and stop the B.S. and politics!!!!!!!! 

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From: Mark McCollough
 Date: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 3:12 PM

Subject: Re: Were there really ever two different North American Species of Cougars?
To: Rick Meril

Rick - You are correct. If USFWS delists the eastern cougar, any animals that show up within the former range of the eastern cougar will no longer have ESA protection. It will be up to the states to manage/protect cougars, which they already do. Most states have some kind of laws on the books protecting cougars, but some states do not. I have not done a summary of what state protection might look like after federal delisting.
The USFWS has determined (not necessarily my decision) they want to delist the eastern cougar subspecies based on extinction. Thus, there would be no federal protection for dispersing animals from the west or active involvement in any restoration effort (natural or reintroduction) in the former range of the eastern cougar. Accepting natural recolonization or actively reintroducing cougars would become a state by state decision.
That said, the new federal Florida panther recovery plan calls for establishing two new populations of 200+ cougars each outside of FL. If/when then occurs, it could result in cougars dispersing up the Appalachian chain into the former range of the eastern cougar. However, the USFWS is clear that it has no immediate plans to move forward with this recovery activity. Our status review contains n landscape analyses by Thatcher et al. to identify potential cougar reintroduction sites in the Southeast.
Look at the current amount of dispersal coming out of the Dakotas. Imagine a similar amount of dispersing cougars (or more?) coming out two populations in the Southeast. Perhaps this is how cougars will reoccupy their former historic range? Lots of deer...
MarkMark McCollough, Ph.D. Endangered Species Specialist
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Maine Field Office
17 Godfrey Drive, Suite #2
Orono, ME 04473
Phone: (207) 866-3344 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (207) 866-3344 end_of_the_skype_highlighting x115
Cell phone: 207 944-5709 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 207 944-5709 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: (207) 866-3351
Email: mark_mccollough@fws.gov
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On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Helen McGinnis <HelenMcGinnis@frontiernet.net> wrote:

See pages 2-7 of the March 2007 issue of the Eastern Cougar Foundation's newsletter - http://www.easterncougar.org/newltr_pdf/ecfnew_mar07w.pdf   I don't know if the US Fish & Wildlife Service plans to hold hearings on the proposal for delist the "eastern cougar," or if it's a done deal.  Can you help us, Mark? As I see it, it will be up to the state wildlife agencies to decide if cougars are protected in the assumed former range of the "eastern cougar."  I expect most of them will opt not to protect them.  The state agencies are largely funded by excise taxes on guns and ammo and by hunting license fees.  The biggest money maker is the white-tailed deer.  Cougars eat deer.  So even if deer are doing enormous damage to our eastern forests, the agencies may opt to grow deer for their clients, the deer hunters. Cougars in the East are also burdened by many human generations of folklore and misinformation, most of it negative.  Even professionals who should know better have been guilty of promulgating this misinformation.  Those of us who promote cougar reintroduction have a huge job ahead of us, dispelling the misinformation and providing scientifically accurate information on why they should be reintroduced--and moral and emotional reasons too. Cougars are going to have a much difficult time re-colonizing on their own because they are never abundant, and because females rarely disperse long distances.

  Wolves and coyotes are in a much better position because both sexes are equally likely to disperse long distances.  All that is needed is for a male and female disperser to meet up in habitat suitable for recolonization. Black bears are more like cougars in their social habits and dispersal.  Females stay closer to their birthplace "raising the children."  Males do not help rear the young and travel much further.  But because black bears are omnivores, the land is capable of supporting many more of them--perhaps 10 or 15 times as many as cougars.  And bears, even though they probably are as likely to cause damage to crops and livestock as cougars, and even though black bears have killed more people than cougars, they have a better reputation.  Have you ever seen a list of what to do when you encounter a predatory black bear--one that views you as prey?  I haven't.

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 From: Rick Meril To: helenmcginnis@frontiernet.net

 Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 3:23 PM

Subject: one more question for you

  Helen..........so now that the Eastern Cougar is officially extinct(even though likely there was never a distinct Eastern Cougar--meaning, all Cougars in North America are the same species) and there is no plan to transplant western cougars west of the mississippi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,like the coyote coming east, it is up to the big cats to recolonize on their own...............If somehow that occurred, they would have no protections on a Federal basis, correct?  They would have to make it on their own accord, unless, like California, they were State protected..........or in other States managaged as a game animal with a hunting season?

  Federal researchers declare eastern cougar extinct

March 2, 2011, 1:51 p.m. ESTAssociated PressALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) —

The "ghost cat" is just that.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday declared the eastern cougar to be extinct, confirming a widely held belief among wildlife biologists that native populations of the big cat were wiped out by man a century ago.After a lengthy review, federal officials concluded there are no breeding populations of cougars — also known as pumas, panthers, mountain lions and catamounts — in the eastern United States. Researchers believe the eastern cougar subspecies has probably been extinct since the 1930s.Wednesday's declaration paves the way for the eastern cougar to be removed from the endangered species list, where it was placed in 1973. The agency's decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another endangered wildcat

.Some cougar enthusiasts have long insisted there's a small breeding population of eastern cougars, saying the secretive cats have simply eluded detection — hence the "ghost cat" moniker. The wildlife service said Wednesday it confirmed 108 sightings between 1900 and 2010, but that these animals either escaped or were released from captivity, or migrated from western states to the Midwest."The Fish and Wildlife Service fully believes that some people have seen cougars, and that was an important part of the review that we did," said Mark McCollough, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who led the eastern cougar review. "We went on to evaluate where these animals would be coming from."A breeding population of eastern cougars would almost certainly have left evidence of its existence, he said. Cats would have been hit by cars or caught in traps, left tracks in the snow or turned up on any of the hundreds of thousands of trail cameras that dot Eastern forests.But researchers have come up empty

.The private Eastern Cougar Foundation, for example, spent a decade looking for evidence. Finding none, it changed its name to the Cougar Rewilding Foundation last year and shifted its focus from confirming sightings to advocating for the restoration of the big cat to its pre-colonial habitat. The wildlife service said it has no authority under the Endangered Species Act to reintroduce the mountain lion to the East.Once widely dispersed throughout the eastern United States, the mountain lion was all but wiped out by the turn of the last century. Cougars were killed in vast numbers, and states even held bounties. A nearly catastrophic decline in white-tailed deer — the main prey of mountain lions — also contributed to the species' extirpation.McCollough said the last wild cougar was believed to have been killed in Maine in 1938.

"If there were cougars surviving in the wild, or had somehow survived since European contact, there would be a lot of sign of those animals, a lot of evidence they are present," McCollough said.The wildlife service treated the eastern cougar as a distinct subspecies, even though some biologists now believe it is genetically the same as its western brethren, which is increasing in number and extending its range. Some experts believe that mountain lions will eventually make their way back East.The loss of a top-level predator like the cougar has had ecological consequences, including an explosion in the deer population and a corresponding decline in the health of Eastern forests.

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   |Helen McGinnis to Rick Meril and to John Laundre(one of the original proponents and originators of the LANDSCAPE OF FEAR theory that predators like Cougars and Wolves improve the health of the landscape by causing prey species like Elk and Deer to constantly be on the move, not allowing them to eat the habitat down to the nub....................

John Laundre states the following: 
" Again,  they (USFW) did not argue subspecies regarding bald eagles nor peregrine falcons(when evaluating for Endangered Species Protection and restoration) but that the species was endangered (and even extinct) over much of its range. 

  We need to stop nitpicking about whether the eastern cougar, Florida panther, or whatever is endangered and accept that, as the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, cougars, mountain lions, panthers, painters, catamounts, whatever you want to call them are endangered in the East and we have just as much responsibility under the endangered species act to recover these populations as we did for eagles and falcons. 

Mike you are right that the Florida panther is not a member or sub member of the eastern cougar but it IS an eastern cougar and as such represents the last remaining population of endangered cougars in the East.  On that basis alone, cougars are NOT extinct in the East and it justifies not only recovering the Florida subpopulation of cougars in the East but as well as over the entire East, where it is possible.

  We need to start talking about the animal itself and not the state in which it resides! "

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