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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis hurts my heart
The Eastern cougar has officially been declared extinct
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/eastern-cougar-officially-declared-extinct
hlthe2b
(102,343 posts)I can only hope the same fate does not befall them (even though my previous dog and I came oh so close to a direct conflict with one on a public trail a few years back).
Ohiogal
(32,047 posts)😥😥😥
lastlib
(23,271 posts)Heartbreaking what we are doing to our planet and its denizens in our mindless quest for profit$$!
Thanks for posting this, CatWoman!
Snackshack
(2,541 posts)Pachamama
(16,887 posts)LeftInTX
(25,515 posts)I think many "sightings" were probably bobcats.
Liberty Belle
(9,535 posts)being sighted on occasion; different species from the eastern variety that's not been seen in many decades.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)Pardon, but some of our cats here are on "the list" and we still sell tours and tickets to outsiders to come hunt.
Maraya1969
(22,494 posts)and probably Texas have panthers, (don't know what the difference is) in personal captivity and also in shelters.
I happen to know because I volunteered at one here in FL and found out about several others in the process, just around here.
Maybe they could do some breeding thing like they did with the pandas in China
brush
(53,837 posts)What surprised me is they're more related genetically to house cats than the African big cats.
gabeana
(3,166 posts)I always look at my cat and think they resemble panthers, the sleekness and muscle tone
Useless in FL
(329 posts)My heart is bleeding....
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,317 posts)democratisphere
(17,235 posts)AnotherDreamWeaver
(2,852 posts)We have a lot. One came and killed 2 goats and 5 sheep at my place, only ate a rear leg on one of the goats. A trapper came and confirmed a Mt. Lion, but we didn't have him turn his dogs loose. Coyote has been my trouble the last couple of years. My ewes have all lambed and I hope I can keep them this year.
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)........
Freedomofspeech
(4,227 posts)Heartbreaking.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,403 posts)In a statement about the removal, U.S. Fish and Wildlife characterized eastern cougars as long extinct.
"There was never any real justification for giving it that status in the first place," says Mark Elbroch, the lead scientist for the puma program at the big cats conservation group Panthera. "There are even scientists arguing it should be removed for taxonomical error."
Whether or not this can be really characterized as an extinction, he says, depends on how loosely you use that term. While cougar populations in this region have declined to the point of non-existence, it's more accurate to say only a certain population of the North American cougar species overall has vanished.
(The de-listing did not impact the subspecies of Florida panthers, a big cat considered to be one of the world's most endangered mammals.)
writerJT
(190 posts)stories anymore before reacting emotionally. This was right there in the link:
In fact, the Center for Biological Diversity, seeing a bright spot in the depressing headline, praised the delisting of the eastern cougar as a way for states to introduce western cougars, like the one pictured above, into new habitats.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Eventually there will be nothing left that doesn't live in human farms and exhibits...with nothing but concrete and office buildings and small green areas. Trumpville.