Dictionary Definition
catamount
Noun
1 short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears;
valued for their fur [syn: lynx]
2 large American feline resembling a lion [syn:
cougar, puma, mountain
lion, painter,
panther, Felis
concolor]
User Contributed Dictionary
Pronunciation
IPA: /'kætəmʌənt/Noun
- the puma, mountain lion, or other similar wild cat
Extensive Definition
The North American Cougar (Puma concolor
couguar), is the Cougar subspecies
once commonly found in eastern North America and still prevalent in
the western half of the continent. As well as several previous
subspecies of Cougar of the western United
States, Puma concolor couguar encompasses the remaining
populations of the Eastern Cougar, where the cat was almost
universally referred to by the name Panther, the only unequivocally
known of which is the critically
endangered Florida
Panther population. Many extinct populations, such as the
Wisconsin Cougar, which died out in 1925, are also
included in the subspecies.
Several populations still exist and are thriving
in the western
United States, but the North American Cougar was once commonly
found in eastern portions of the United States and Canada. It is
believed it was completely extirpated in the early 1900s. Some
mainstream scientists believe that small relict populations may exist
(around 50 individuals), especially in the Appalachian
Mountains and eastern Canada, but this
idea is far more often found in the protoscientific field of
cryptozoology, and
also forms a common theme in
American folklore. Other theories ascribe modern sightings to a
feral breeding population
of former pets, possibly hybridizing
with native North American Cougar remnants, or claim that cougars
from the western United States have been rapidly expanding their
range eastwards.
Despite a dearth of hard evidence, sightings of
cougars in the eastern United States are not as uncommon as they
once were. Cougars with offspring have been sighted in Maine and
Vermont in the past fifteen years. There have been verified cougar
tracks and kills found in some states, including New York, which
has had numerous sightings in the Adirondack and Catskill
mountains. While most may be former captive animals released or
escaped, the possibility of a sustained breeding population either
incumbent or from migration is not out of the question.
Genetic analysis of DNA from a Cougar sighting in
Wisconsin in 2008 indicated that a Cougar was in Wisconsin and that
it was not captive. It is speculated that the cougar migrated from
a native population in the Black Hills of South Dakota; however,
the genetic analysis could not affirm that hypothesis. It is also
uncertain whether there are other, perhaps breeding, cougars.
However, a second sighting was reported and tracks were documented
in a nearby Wisconsin community. Unfortunately, a genetic analysis
could not be done and a determination could not be made. . This
cougar later made its way south into the northern Chicago
suburb of Wilmette.
On April
14, 2008, a cougar
triggered a flurry of reports before being cornered and killed in
the Chicago neighborhood of
Roscoe Village while officers tried to contain it. The cougar
was the first sighted in the city limits of Chicago since the city
was founded in 1833.
Sources
- Wright, Bruce S. The Eastern Panther: A Question of Survival. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin and Company, 1972.
References
External links
- Eastern Cougar Foundation
- National Heritage Information Centre: General Element Report: Felis concolor couguar
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: Eastern Cougar Fact Sheet
- Puma concolor couguar: Eastern Cougar
- The Cougar Network
- The Eastern Cougar
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Metroland article Cougars, Coyotes, and Bears, Oh My
- Adirondack Explorer article Cougars Coming Our Way
- Hills Mountain Lion May Have Migrated To Wisconsin
catamount in Italian: Puma concolor
cougar