STOCKBRIDGE — A photo taken late last month of a big cat sitting on the banks of the Housatonic River has sparked lively debate, with many believing it’s a mountain lion — even as the photographer and state wildlife officials say otherwise.

7-28-17 — Stockbridge– A photo of a big cat sitting on the banks of the Housatonic River, taken late last month and posted on Facebook, has sparked lively debate, with many claiming it to be a mountain lion — even as the photographer and state wildlife officials say otherwise.  (BOB FOURNIER / FACEBOOK)

Eastern cougar, one-time feared predator in Massachusetts and elsewhere, officially acknowledged as extinct

Without a confirmed trace indicating the big cats’ continued existence on record since the late 30s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially removed the extinct eastern cougar from the endangered species list last week. 

Once a mysterious, nighttime rover of forests from Michigan and Canada to Massachusetts and the South, the eastern cougar became a target of fur trappers and farmers desiring to protect livestock, in particular during the 1700s and 1800s.

Fish and Wildlife in 2011 began an extensive review of all available information on the predatory cats, ultimately concluding the creature was long gone, ultimately recommending they removal from the endangered species list in 2015.

The solitary, secretive nocturnal species was famously difficult to detect and track, and adult big cats would keep in motion over huge territories, leading to persistent rumors of apparition-like appearances, a potential reason the government’s determination took so long.

MassWildlife took on these rumors in a website post concerning mountain lions and their debated presence in Massachusetts. 

All but two recent known and evidence-based reports of mountain lions in Massachusetts have been false, state’s biologists concluded. 

“Mistaken reports of mountain lions in Massachusetts are most commonly bobcats,” the post reads. “Many people do not realize how large a grown bobcat is. An adult male bobcat can reach four feet in length and 35 to 40 pounds.”

It adds, “Now and then MassWildlife gets a report with a photo of a Mountain Lion. All these photos were taken in a state other than Massachusetts. Some of these photos have taken on urban legend status.”

There is a potential the other two reported sightings were transitory creatures passing through the area. 

Cougars remain in the west of the Mississippi River and in Southern Florida, and are most populous in South America, where the big cats can be found in just about every country on the mainland. 

In a press release responding to the move by Fish and Wildlife, Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, recommended eventual reintroduction of big cats in the eastern and midwestern U.S.

“We need large carnivores like cougars to keep the wild food web healthy, so we hope eastern and midwestern states will reintroduce them,” said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Cougars would curb deer overpopulation and tick-borne diseases that threaten human health.”

Adds a press release on the matter, “In today’s announcement the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged there are large, intact areas of habitat with suitable prey and little human disturbance that could support puma populations. The agency cited habitat in the Adirondacks, New England, the Great Lakes region and elsewhere in the Midwest.”

original Posted Jan 29, 2018 – Source of story

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