The question of whether the catamount is extinct has a complex answer that depends entirely on which population the term refers to. While “catamount” is a historical, regional label for a wide-ranging species, the specific population that once roamed the eastern United States is officially considered lost. This duality creates persistent confusion for the public, requiring separation between the general identity of the animal and the fate of a geographically defined group.
Defining the Catamount
The term “catamount” is an old regional name, primarily used in the eastern and northeastern United States, and is a shortened form of “cat-of-the-mountain.” This colloquialism refers to the large feline scientifically classified as Puma concolor. It is the same solitary predator known across its vast range by many other common names.
The animal is also universally referred to as the cougar, puma, mountain lion, and sometimes painter or panther, depending on the region. All these names refer to a single species, which possesses the widest distribution of any native terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. The species belongs to the Felinae subfamily, distinguishing it from the “Big Cats” (lions and tigers) that belong to the Panthera genus.
The Official Extinction of the Eastern Population
The confusion over extinction stems from the fate of a specific regional population, historically categorized as the Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor couguar). This group once ranged across the eastern half of North America, from the Canadian Maritimes down to the U.S. South. Their decline was rapid and comprehensive, driven by intense eradication efforts via bounty systems and widespread habitat destruction following European colonization.
The Eastern Cougar population was largely extirpated from its range by the early 20th century. The last confirmed sighting of a wild individual occurred in 1938. Although the population was listed under the Endangered Species Act, a review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concluded there was no evidence of a breeding, extant population.
The USFWS officially declared the Eastern Cougar extinct in 2018, removing the subspecies Puma concolor couguar from the federal list of protected species. This ruling acknowledged that the population had likely been functionally extinct for many decades prior. The only surviving indigenous cougar population in the East is the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), a genetically distinct and highly endangered subspecies.
Current Range and Conservation Status
While the Eastern Cougar is gone, the species Puma concolor maintains a robust presence across a vast territory. It has the largest range of any terrestrial mammal in the Americas, spanning from the Yukon territory in Canada down to the southern tip of the Andes in Chile. Populations in Western North America are stable and managed effectively as a viable part of the ecosystem.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists Puma concolor as “Least Concern” on its Red List of Threatened Species. This designation reflects the species’ adaptability and wide distribution, despite local threats and the loss of the Eastern population. The majority of the world’s cougars reside in the mountains and remote areas of the western United States, Canada, and throughout Latin America.
Verified sightings of cougars in the eastern United States, outside of the Florida panther’s range, occur periodically but are not remnants of the extinct Eastern Cougar population. Genetic and forensic testing confirms these individuals are typically transient males dispersing hundreds of miles eastward from established Western populations, or sometimes escaped captive animals. While these transients demonstrate the species’ capacity for long-distance travel, they do not indicate a recolonization or survival of the original Eastern Catamount.