In the last thirty years, one of
the last wilderness landscapes has become the poster child for ecosystem
restoration. With over three million acres of forest returned to old growth,
and an ecosystem encompassing 90% of all northeastern wildlife, the Adirondacks
is a place of growing ecological integrity. This environment, which continues
to grow, thrive and diversify, is attracting some of the most mysterious and
elusive predators.
The cougar,
also known as the mountain lion, lias panther, puma, catamount and mountain
screamer, is making a comeback in the wake of this changing ecological
landscape. With a range extending from the Yukon and Nova Scotia to Patagonia,
this cat once prowled the lower 48 states from coast to coast, one of the most
widespread land-dwelling mammals in the western hemisphere. Yet despite this expansive range, little is
known about their secret lives and for the most part they remain unseen.
In the wake of popularized hunting
and trapping in the 1800’s, cougars were gone from the Adirondacks by the 1890s
and stripped from most of eastern North America soon after. Survivors roamed
the Pacific Coast and Southwest. However, into the 1960’s, after some much
needed regulation tune-ups including a dropped bounty on cougars and a federal
law banning predator poisons, populations began to rise out in the backcountry.
From there, cougars began to spread back into the Midwest and Canada. In 2011,
one cougar made it as far as Connecticut.
Map of cougar sightings. National Geographic.
In March of 2011, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern mountain lion extinct despite protests from local communities that cougars still lurk in the shadows. The story, covered by the North Country Public Radio, followed the ongoing debate about the state of mountain lions in the Adirondacks. Put on the endangered species list in the 1970’s, some Adirondackers believe that the federal government knows cougars remain in the northeast, but refuse to face the economic and social repercussions of having such animals prowling around cities and towns.
While the State Department of Environmental Conservation disaffirms a sustaining population of cougars in New
York, organizations such as PROTECT the Adirondacks have organized a public
database to track alleged sightings of cougars in the Adirondack area. This database,
known as Cougar Watch, will map trails from recorded sightings and provide
updates to the public. While the State Department claims that many of these sightings were of escaped or non-native animals, all evidence points to the overwhelming fact that cougars are making a comeback and beginning to reclaim a habitat they once called home.
National Geographic Map of Cougar territory in the United States.
This is really interesting! I thought there was talk of bringing cougars back to the Adirondacks, not whether or not they were already returning on their own. I wonder how the locals feel about the possibility of cougars returning, and how that compares to what the conservationists are saying.
ReplyDelete