Fast Facts

Posted by Group Awesome

The cougar was once found over much of North America, including southern Canada from coast to coast. In the west it still occurs regularly, but the eastern cougar, which once ranged from the Carolinas north into Canada and west to the Great Plains is now protected as an endangered species.

The Cougar was first placed on the endangered species list in 1967. Conservation efforts have only recently become significant to ensure that the animal will not become extinct.

Cougars were eliminated from most of eastern North America by the turn of the 20th century due to uncontrolled hunting and trapping, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and decline in their main food supply - the white-tailed deer.

With officials refusing to acknowledge its existence in the wild, the Eastern Puma risks losing protection under the endangered Species Act while fragile ecosystems of the eastern U.S. hang in the balance.