Our friend at the USFW Office in Maine, Endangered Species Specialist Mark McCollough(lead author of the paper finding the Cougar to be extinct in the East) checked in with me on Wolf and Puma activity East of the Mississippi:..... "Not much new to report on wolves"......... "No rumors of wolf-like animals in Maine to follow up on (for quite some time now)"...... "The Service recently delisted wolves in the Great Lakes only, leaving wolves listed in the Northeast",,,,,,,,,,,," No good leads on cougars in the East that I am aware of since the Milford, CT animal was killed"...... "Alleged cougar shot by a hunter in VA this fall. State fish and wildlife investigated and collected blood samples"..... "Turned out to be a bobcat"............So at this point, the "Crone Puma video" we commented on yesterday falls under "alleged Puma sightings",,,,,far from confirmed...........Good news is that Coiugar Rewilding's Chris Spatz, Helen McGinnis and colleagues want to organize a Puma restoration conference discussing habitat suitability in the East for our "ghost cats".........We, like Mark, hope that this conference becomes a reality

From: Meril, Rick

To: 'mark_mccollough@fws.gov'
Sent: Wed Jan 18 06:04:42 2012
Subject: Re: updates on wolves and pumas in the Eastern States


Thnks for the update Mark

I hope Spatz and crew get such a conference set up,,,,,,with the ongoing Eastern wolf versus western wolf question,,,,,,,,and being suitable habitat in new england ny and possibbly southern appalachians for large carnivore rewilding

A good rest of week to you

Rick

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From: Mark_McCollough@fws.gov
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Tue Jan 17 16:44:35 2012

Subject: Re: Saying hi

Not much new to report on wolves. No rumors of wolf-like animals in Maine to follow up on (for quite some time now). The Service recently delisted wolves in the Great Lakes only, leaving wolves listed in the Northeast.

No good leads on cougars in the East that I am aware of since the Milford, CT animal was killed. Alleged cougar shot by a hunter in VA this fall. State fish and wildlife investigated and collected blood samples. Turned out to be a bobcat.

Chris Spatz and the Cougar Rewilding group is talking about organizing a conference (possibly in VT) to discuss the possibility of restoring cougars to the East - habitat suitability, etc. This would be interesting as I doubt the USFWS or state agencies would host such a meeting. As you are aware, others have talked about large carnivore reintroduction in the Northeast in the past, but little has happened.

Hope all is well with you. Mark

Mark 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 x115
Fax: (207) 866-3351

Email: mark_mccollough@fws.gov