Why then, is the eastern cougar listed as an endangered species?

By the 1960s and early 1970s, a few cougars had been killed in the wild east of the Mississippi River, and many people claimed to have seen them. Based on these circumstances, and a now outdated cougar classification, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the subspecies as endangered in 1973 under the newly created Endangered Species Act. However, recent genetic evidence from eastern Canada has revealed apparently wild cougars with Latin American ancestry. We now believe most of the cats appearing in the eastern United States since the 1960s have either escaped or have been deliberately released from the exotic pet trade. It appears likely they are not the scattered remnants of a native population.

Until the USFWS announces their pending review of the status of the eastern cougar, any cougar found in the East is protected both by federal and state regulations.

Are cougars now recovering in the East?

Not yet. Despite more sophisticated technology for finding cougars, and with more people looking than ever before, less evidence has appeared in the last decade than in the 1990s (perhaps because of recent strict legislation prohibiting interstate trade in exotic cats and new state laws prohibiting private ownership of such cats).

Sanctioned studies since the late 1990s by the CRF, research universities, and state and federal wildlife agencies in NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA, WV, and KY have failed to find evidence of cougars. Incidental evidence such as roadkills, accidental shootings or trappings, and photographs captured by privately owned remote wildlife cameras is nearly absent.

Even in Midwestern states with low or emerging cougar populations, incidental evidence appears with reliable frequency.