Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

extirpation. In the big picture, however, if
free-ranging pumas are present and
behaving in wild puma ways, then their
origin, whether from native eastern or
western stock or sanctioned or unsanctioned
releases, should not alter their proper
management and may be irrelevant. While
the cats in many confirmed puma reports are
written off as FERCs and denied
consideration as legitimate ecological
entities, the North American continent teems
with a host of wildlife populations having
their origins in captivity. These span the
spectrum from critically endangered species
to non-native exotics raised like barnyard
fowl and annually introduced solely for
sporting opportunities. Yet these former
captives continue to benefit from official
recognition, management, and protection.
Should mountain lions that happen to show
up in areas where their presence is
considered improbable be any different?
Having said this, the historically
consistent pattern of sightings and periodic
confirmations, while circumstantial,
suggests native pumas did persist in many
areas of their former midwestern and eastern
range at least into the 1940s and 1950s.
After World War II, however, ownership of
cougars and other wild, exotic, or novelty
animals became part of mainstream
Americana and some captive cougars likely
ended up as FERCs. Unfortunately this
phenomenon continues today and is not
necessarily limited to the eastern USA. As a
result, the ultimate origin of almost any freeranging
puma today, even with genetic
testing, may truly be indeterminate.
Summary of Occurrence Records
In keeping with a big picture perspective
of the cryptic cougar subject, it is useful to
review a sampling of bonafide puma reports.
Examples of confirmed or highly credible
reports, mostly peer-reviewed, follow.
“Confirmed kill” indicates that a puma was
killed and the incident documented both
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
CRYPTIC COUGARS · Tischendorf 73
photographically and by written or verbal
elaboration of substantial details, or without
photos but with written or verbal elaboration
of substantial details by a professional
scientist or wildlife manager associated with
or employed by a governmental natural
resource agency or academic institution.
“Reported kill” involves highly credible
documentation by a natural resource
professional of a mountain lion being killed,
but reflects a lack of substantial details.
“Confirmed tracks” indicates that a track or
tracks consistent with those of a puma were
located and documented via measurements
and/or photographs subsequently published
in mainstream scientific or popular literature
and thus widely available for independent
scrutiny and authentication.
Reported kill - Williston, North Dakota,
1902 (Bailey 1926)
Reported kill - Bears Paw Mountains,
Montana, 1910 (White 1967)
Reported kill - Fontana Village area,
Tennessee, 1920 (Linzey and Linzey
1971)
Confirmed kill - Mundleville, New
Brunswick, 1932 (Wright 1972)
Confirmed kill - Little Saint John Lake,
Maine-Quebec border, 1938 (Wright
1972)
Confirmed kill - Madison, Saskatchewan,
1939 (Clarke 1942)
Confirmed kill - Pasquia Hills,
Saskatchewan, 1948 (White 1963)
Confirmed kill - Asheville, Alabama, 1948
(Anonymous 1948)
Confirmed kill - Mena, Arkansas, 1948
(Lewis 1969, Nowak 1976)
Confirmed kill - Sims, Arkansas, 1949
(Sealander 1951)
Confirmed kill - Black Hills, South Dakota,
1958 (Mann 1959)
Reported kills (2) - Newcastle, Wyoming,
ca 1950s-1960s (Roop 1971)
Reported kills (2) - Van Tassell, Wyoming,
ca 1959-1960 (Roop 1971)