Are there mt. lions in pa

A study examined cougar attacks across the US and Canada and found that since , there have been only 29 confirmed fatalities. The last wild cougar in Pennsylvania was killed in and the last cougar born on the East Coast was killed in in Maine. Cougars were officially declared extinct east of the Mississippi in the s. The only population that survived was the Florida panther Puma concolor couguar , and it only survived with great help from conservationists. The Florida panther reached a population low of individuals in s, and currently are between sub-adults and adults.

As an apex predator, their extirpation—localized extinction—has caused incalculable harm to the ecosystems of Pennsylvania. They helped to keep prey populations in balance, which created a more diverse and better functioning ecosystem that could respond to disturbances.

While there have been many reports of wild cougars returning to Pennsylvania, none of these have been proven to be wild cougars. Almost all the reported sights have been other animals like bobcats Lynx rufus , coyotes Canis latrans , raccoons Procyon lotor , or large domestic cats Felis catus.

Cougars are kept in captivity by a few people, but these cats are large agile wild animals that are not suited to captivity. A few captive cougars have escaped over the years, but these cats have been quickly recaptured.

Besides a lack of physical scat, hair, or tracks and photographic evidence, the absence of cougars is also demonstrated by a lack of road-killed cougars.

Cougars are often by hit cars—in , at least one-tenth of all Florida panthers 20 out of a maximum population of animals were hit by cars. This number of car strikes is in spite of having low population densities and the significant efforts to reduce car strikes, such as reduced speed limits, warning signs, and obstacles fences and road underpasses built along or under roads that cut through panther habitat.

Figure 1. Cougar range based on sightings and physical evidence Image credit: LaRue et al, The green shading represents areas with established breeding populations. Tan shading indicates regions where dispersing juveniles have been sighted, but there are no established populations in these areas. Breeding cougars are almost entirely west of the Mississippi in states like South Dakota, Texas, and California Figure 1. The Everglades—1, miles south of Pennsylvania—is the only known home to a breeding population of cougars in the East Figure 1.

This population is greatly threatened by human develop on all sides. These young males are looking to establish a new territory and they do not stay in areas without females.

No wild cougars have been found in Pennsylvania since their extirpation in Young cougars one- to two-years old leave their mothers to establish a new territory. Females tend to go an average of miles, while males travel much farther miles. The distance traveled varies based on habitat, time of year, and study methods. Males do not tolerate other males in their territory, and they will fight other males to maintain their territory. Much of the prime habitat in the West is already occupied by larger more dominate males, so juvenile males make long journeys to disperse to setup a new territory or find an area where they can push out the dominate male.

The farther a male must travel the more likely they are to die. Dispersal can be mean treks as long as 1, miles in search of territory. Dispersing cats do not stay in new areas because there are no females.

When they are in these new areas, the young males are almost constantly moving looking for an area with females. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada.

Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in One came to her as the result of an owner's divorce. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. Murray also has a cross-eyed white tiger named Keisha, who crushed chicken bones with ease but delicately stepped into a metal pool to cool off.

Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. Foster, the Messiah College professor, said he has investigated about 15 reported mountain lion sightings since late May, and believed "three or four are pretty likely a mountain lion. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Over 1, people follow her page. Images from a homeowner's surveillance camera show a tan cat with a long body, beyond a chain-link fence. It has the color of a mountain lion, but the long tail appears to be missing.

In their list of sightings, Griffiths and Foster noted different types of claims, including seeing a mountain lion while driving at night or in back yards during the day — and a number of people claiming to have heard the screaming of a mountain lion near their homes. If there is a mountain lion running loose in York County, how did it get there? Why did it come here? Luther said a person who lost a pet mountain lion might have a good reason not to report it missing.

Foster said young male mountain lions can get driven out of their habitat by adult male mountain lions, causing them to travel hundreds of miles. That's much more common. Luther also spoke of a crossbreed of a house cat and serval called a Savannah cat, which can stand two feet at the top of its head.

Foster and Griffiths plan to continue their invesitigation until hunting season begins in September. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania?

National Park Service. As the latest hoaxed photo of a mountain lion supposedly killed in Pennsylvania died a slow death on Facebook yesterday, the head of an organization tracking the eastern movements of the big cats was preparing a presentation for a Pennsylvania audience tonight. Michelle LaRue, executive director of the Cougar Network and a research ecologist at the University of Minnesota, will discuss the eastern expansion of cougars from their core range in the western U.

The Cougar Network, working with state agencies, have documented multiple mountain lions as far east as Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan in recent years, as well as one cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own. Although there was no evidence that the mountain lion ever set foot in Pennsylvania, DNA evidence confirmed that it had been both west and east of the state.

It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late and early , and then died in Connecticut in