Sorry, Cougar Believers

U.S. Fish and Wildlife today announced the eastern cougar, a subspecies of cougar or mountain lion, extinct following review status, which can not authenticate any information about the animals since the last confirmed person was killed in 1938 in Maine. Only one subspecies of Puma from the eastern United States - Florida panther - survives. Florida Panthers once ranged in the southeast, but is now besieged by growth in one, the remnants of the population in South FloridaWednesday's declaration opens the way to the eastern cougar to be removed from the endangered species list, where he was placed in 1973. Agency's decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another endangered wild cat.
Some hunters and outdoors enthusiasts have long insisted there is a small breeding population of eastern cougars, saying, secretive cats simply evades detection - means "ghost cat" moniker. Wildlife Service said Wednesday it affirmed the 108 observations in the period between 1900 and 2010, but that these animals either escaped or were released from captivity, or migrated from the western states in the Midwest.
"Fish and Wildlife Service fully believes that some people have seen cougars, and it was an important part of the review, which we did," said Mark McCollough, endangered species biologist who led the investigation of the eastern cougar agency. "We went to assess where these animals will be coming from."