Top Line: Scientists have identified seventeen areas in the eastern US suitable for the recolonization of Puma concolor. Will humans allow it?
Figure 1. A Florida panther wondering what the hell is going on. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Scientists have identified seventeen relatively large and undeveloped areas in the eastern United States where Puma concolor could recolonize to form self-sustaining populations. The habitat exists, human and livestock densities are low so as to minimize conflicts, and public support is off the charts. The big question is if there is the political will to welcome back the big cats.
What’s In a Name?
I grew up in Oregon calling the species described by science as Puma concolor a cougar. We also referred to them as mountain lions, but puma and catamount, while popular names elsewhere in the Americas, were not in our local vernacular. Vermonters favor catamount (“cat of the mountains”) and scientists favor puma.
The conservation organization Panthera claims (as does Guinness) that far more than a hundred names exist for cougars, at least forty of which are in English (for example, painter, mountain screamer, ghost cat, red tiger, Mexican lion, American lion, and panther). Puma has the benefit of being the same in the major languages of the Americas (English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French) as well as being a scientifically latinized word. Also supporting my chosen P. concolor name is that when one types puma, catamount, or mountain lion into the search bar in Wikipedia, it goes to the page entitled “Cougar.”
Since Carl Linnaeus first described Felis concolor (“of uniform color”) in 1771, science has described (split) up to thirty-two subspecies and moved the species to a different genus (Puma). Later genetic analysis found them to be too similar to be separate subspecies (P. c. oregonensi, we hardly knew you). In 2005, the thirty-two subspecies were grouped (lumped) into six subspecies. However, of late the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature recognizes only two subspecies:
• P. c. concolor, the South American cougar, but possibly excluding the region northwest of the Andes
• P. c. couguar, the North American cougar, possibly including northwestern South America
I never met a P. concolor I didn’t like, so I don’t have strong opinions on taxonomic lumping or splitting.
Figure 2. A Florida panther mother and kittens. Source: The Nature Conservancy.
A Very Brief Natural History
Puma concolor is the fourth largest cat species worldwide, with adults standing 24 to 35 inches tall at the shoulders. Adult males measure about 7 feet 10 inches from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail, with adult females coming in at about 6 feet 9 inches long. Males and females weigh from 117 to 159 pounds and 75 to 106 pounds respectively.
Cougars range widely in the Americas (Map 1). As the latitude increases, so does the size of a puma. The mountain screamer is the most widespread terrestrial mammal in the Americas, found in twenty-three nations.
Map 1. The former (light green + dark green) and current (dark green) range of P. concolor. Source: Panthera.
Panther cubs are born with blue eyes, but by the time they are sixteen months old, their eye color changes to yellow. Cubs also have spots (Figure 3). Red tigers can attain speeds up to 50 miles per hour. Painters prefer to live alone save for mating and, for Mom, cub raising. Rather than roar, the American lion purrs, growls, shrieks, and chirps. Mexican lions are great jumpers, both long and high.
Figure 3. A Florida panther kitten. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
An important ecosystem service performed by pumas is keeping deer populations healthy and in check. Some evidence suggests that chronic wasting disease, deadly to both deer and elk who have it and possibly transmissible to humans, is somewhat kept in check as well by mountain lions. A scientific paper published in 2023 by Yovovich et al. notes:
Pumas play an important role in regulating prey, producing carrion for scavengers, and providing ecosystem services, each of which contributes to ecological resilience and healthy human communities.
A Very Brief Unnatural History
The greatest extent of mountain lion extirpation is in the eastern United States (Map 1). Cougars were functionally extinct there by the early 1900s. Settlers considered them carnivorous competition and shot them with abandon. Deforestation to make way for agriculture severely reduced prey species for mountain lions.
Slowly, human attitudes toward mountain lions have changed. Most states now classify them as game, affording them a modicum of protection compared to when they were considered predators (gasp!) that could be shot anytime and anywhere.
The recovery of mountain lions in the West has been remarkable, mostly because cougars were still widespread when it began and have responded favorably to not getting shot and the recovery of “game” (to humans) or “prey” (to pumas). In recent decades, pumas have been increasing in the West and have dispersed into the Midwest (Table 1). Some individuals have even made it 1,800 miles from South Dakota to Connecticut. (We heard about this because the lone traveler was then killed on a highway.) Alas, loners do not mate and give birth.
Table 1. Minimum and maximum estimated Puma concolor populations by state. Source: World Population Review.
A very small population remains in eastern North America. Known as the Florida panther, it is barely hanging on in the southern portion of the state (Figure 4). The population is a victim of habitat destruction, killing (both of panthers and their prey), and inbreeding. Once down to 20 individuals, the population has recently been counted at 200. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, there are now only 130.
Figure 4. A Florida panther in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
A Home Where the Cougar Can Roam
Yovovich et al. 2023 (Figure 5) have identified seventeen areas in the East that are large enough, don’t have too many humans or livestock, and have enough suitable habitat and prey so that self-sustaining cougar colonies could be reestablished and sustained “without relying on dispersal and genetic rescue from nearby populations.” The authors used data on vegetation types, human density, roads, livestock use, and snow depth, as well as expert opinion, to identify these areas.
Figure 5. The science says it’s possible. Will humans allow it? Source: Biodiversity and Conservation.
The seventeen areas identified by these authors are in New England, Appalachia, the Ozarks, and the Upper Midwest (Maps 2 and 3 and Table 2). Southern Florida didn’t make the cut because the suitable habitat isn’t large enough to support a self-sustaining population of Florida panthers over time. Human-assisted infusion of genetic material from other panther populations is necessary.
Map 2. Seventeen potential puma recolonization landscapes. Source: Panthera.
Map 3. A close-up of New England recolonization landscapes. Source: Panthera.
Table 2. Potential puma habitat patches, listed in order of increasing size. Source: Yovovich et al. 2023.
Restoring Cougars in the American East: A Popular Concept
An online (but with some statistical validity) poll and study by The Ohio State University found strong support for cougar reintroduction in six selected northeastern states, ranging from 4:1 to 13:1 in favor (Figure 7).
Figure 6. Most politicians would kill or die for support numbers like cougars have. Source: Carlson et al. 2023.
The poll found:
At the individual level, support for cougar restoration was higher among men, respondents identifying “strongly” or “very strongly” as a hunter or a conservationist, those with mutualist wildlife value orientations, urban residents, and respondents identifying as politically liberal.
A “mutualist wildlife value orientation” (WVO) is defined as “a set of beliefs in which humans and wildlife are relatively equal; individuals with mutualistic WVOs are reluctant to support actions that harm wildlife.”
Ecosystem Services Cougars Could Provide in the American East
A couple of researchers in Idaho set out to value the ecosystem services provided by large carnivore recolonization. As a case study, they focused on how reintroduction of cougars could reduce the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the eastern US. Let’s let the abstract of Gilbert et al. 2016 speak for itself:
The decline of top carnivores has released large herbivore populations around the world, incurring socioeconomic costs such as increased animal-vehicle collisions. Attempts to control overabundant deer in the Eastern United States have largely failed, and deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) continue to rise at alarming rates. We present the first valuation of an ecosystem service provided by large carnivore recolonization, using DVC reduction by cougars as a case study. Our coupled deer population models and socioeconomic valuations revealed that cougars could reduce deer densities and DVCs by 22% in the Eastern United States, preventing 21,400 human injuries, 155 fatalities, and $2.13 billion in avoided costs within 30 years of establishment. Recently established cougars in South Dakota prevent $1.1 million in collision costs annually. Large carnivore restoration could provide valuable ecosystem services through such socio-ecological cascades, and these benefits could offset the societal costs of coexistence. [emphasis added]
In other words, welcoming back cougars to the East would result every year in avoiding 713 human injuries, 5 fatalities, and $71 million in damages. Now that is an ecosystem service!
Cougars on the Move
Cougars are on the move. The only question is, Will they be welcome?
Yovovich et al. 2023 have identified several areas of potential conflict such as roads, people, and livestock, and they urge creative and early public engagement to reduce such conflicts. They close with this:
Our analyses suggest that ample habitat exists in the eastern US to support pumas, and ongoing records of puma dispersal in the Midwest show that individuals are on their way. Future analyses could help predict how long it might take to see breeding pumas establish in the East. The question remains, however, whether the people of the East are willing to coexist with pumas when they arrive. We suggest proactive efforts (as opposed to reactive, post-problem management) to help residents avoid negative impacts of pumas, will be the most useful for promoting coexistence.
One way to address such conflicts is to increase the amount of public land in the cougar recolonization areas. Just a thought.
Figure 7. Someday perhaps these signs will become common across the American East. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
For More Information
AZ Animals. 11 Incredible Mountain Lion Facts (web page).
Carlson, S. C., Vucetich, J. A., Galiardi, L., and Bruskotter, J. T. May 2023. “Attitudes Toward Cougar Restoration in Seven Eastern States.” The Ohio State University, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Columbus, OH.
Ewing, Susan, and Elizabeth Grossman (eds.). 1999. Shadow Cat: Encountering the American Mountain Lion. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books.
Gilbert, Sophie L., et al. July/August 2017. “Socioeconomic Benefits of Large Carnivore Recolonization Through Reduced Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions.” Conservation Letters 10(4):431–439.
Newborn, Steve. May 23, 2021. “Once Nearly Extinct, the Florida Panther Is Making a Comeback.” NPR, Weekend Edition Sunday.
O’Conner, M. R. September 9, 2015. “No Home for the Florida Panther.” The New Yorker.
Panthera. Meet the Puma (web page).
US Fish and Wildlife Service. Florida Panther (web page).
Wikipedia. Cougar.
Yovovich, V., et al. January 3, 2023. “Determining Puma Habitat Suitability in the Eastern USA.” Biodiversity and Conservation 32: 921–941.
How to Help
The Center for Biological Diversity has long worked to save the Florida panther. Defenders of Wildlife has also long been on the case. The Northeast Wilderness Trust focuses on rewilding the American Northeast, including bringing back the mountain lion. Panthera is an international wild cat conservation organization that is seriously into panthers. Tompkins Conservation is working especially to restore the puma to Chile and Argentina. Give one or more of these organizations money and do what they ask of you.
Bottom Line: Recolonizing Puma concolor throughout the American East will be good for nature and save human lives. Increasing the amount of public land there could help reduce conflicts.