Summit County Citizens Voice

Despite numerous sightings, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the eastern cougar to be extinct. CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO VIA FLICKR.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will remove the subspecies from the Endangered Species List

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal scientists said last week they consider the the eastern cougar  to be extinct, and will remove the subspecies from the Endangered Species List.

The decision won’t affect the endangered status of the Florida panther, another subspecies that survives only in an isolated breeding population of about 120 to 160 animals in southwest Florida.

“We recognize that many people have seen cougars in the wild within the historical range of the eastern cougar,” said Martin Miller, northeast region chief of endangered species. “However, we believe those cougars are not the eastern cougar subspecies. We found no information to support the existence of the eastern cougar.” Click here to visit the agency’s eastern cougar web page.

Cougars sighted in the eastern part of the U.S. are other subspecies that escaped from captivity or moved into the region from the West, according the the agency. Eastern cougars have been on the Endangered Species List since 1973, but many wildlife biologists questioned whether there was really a remnant population.

Reports of cougars observed in the wild examined during the review process described cougars of other subspecies, often South American subspecies, that had been held in captivity and had escaped or been released to the wild, as well as wild cougars of the western United States subspecies that had migrated eastward to the Midwest.

During the review, the Service received 573 responses to a request for scientific information about the possible existence of the eastern cougar subspecies; conducted an extensive review of U.S. and Canadian scientific literature; and requested information from the 21 States within the historical range of the subspecies.

No States expressed a belief in the existence of an eastern cougar population. According to Dr. Mark McCollough, the Service’s lead scientist for the eastern cougar, the subspecies of eastern cougar has likely been extinct since the 1930s.

The Service initiated the review as part of its obligations under the Endangered Species Act. The Service will prepare a proposal to remove the eastern cougar from the endangered species list, since extinct animals are not eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal will be made available for public comment.

The Service’s decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another wild cat subspecies listed as endangered. Though the Florida panther once ranged throughout the Southeast, it now exists in less than five percent of its historic habitat and in only one breeding population of 120 to 160 animals in southwestern Florida.

Additional information about eastern cougars, including frequently asked questions and cougar sightings, is at:
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ecougar
.

Find information about endangered species at
http://www.fws.gov/endangered
.

Filed under: biodiversity, Colorado, endangered species, Environment, wildlife Tagged: | biodiversity, eastern cougar extinct, Lists of IUCN Red List endangered species, Summit County News, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife