As someone who grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, few things intrigue me more than the topic of the Eastern Cougar. When I was really young my dad would tell me stories about how he would see 'pumas' in the mountains when he was little. When I was in grade school and high school I would hear occasional tales of cougars being sighted around the area. I grew up with the idea that cougars do in fact live in the Blue Ridge Mountains, despite being deemed 'extinct' by the scientific community. This dichotomy poses an interesting question: Who is right?
The word "extinct" is deceptively conclusive. The BBC describes looking for extinct species as "complicated and often infuriatingly inconclusive". Scientists and biologists that look for species wild populations have various methods, with varying degrees of success depending on the targeted species. In the case of the eastern cougar what might have been used would be trail cameras and scat. These scientific measures are necessary for estimating wild populations and their density, but do not exactly measure populations. These methods are great for a species with well documented population sizes, but are not great for measuring endangered/possibly extinct species populations. As the BBC states "errors in judgement are far from uncommon. Every few years a species like the Cuban solenodon, thought to be extinct or even officially declared as such, turns up unexpectedly in the wild.". Cougars are notoriously independent and solitary, which could hinder efforts of finding an already extremely scant population.
It is also important to note that these techniques used by scientists are largely effective, and that sightings of cougars could very well be attributed to locals misidentifying one animal for another. North Carolina Wildlife explains that "upon investigation, NCWRC biologists have concluded that many reports of cougar sightings or their tracks are misidentification of both domestic and wild animals. Domestic cats and dogs, coyotes, bobcats, and red foxes infected with mange are the most common animals mistaken for cougars". The solitary nature of cougars makes it exceedingly rare for cougars to be close to humans, especially for them to be close enough that humans notice them.
In conclusion, there is no clear answer. What we can conclude is that eastern cougar in North Carolina are either extinct or close to extinction.
Liz Clark week 4
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After reading this article i wonder how many species are actually extinct. I never really wondered about the methods they used to identify when a species was extinct. Trial cameras does not sound like a good method to me, i feel like you are not really able to get an accurate number, specially for species that are known to have a solitary nature. Are there any more methods used by biologist?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Pamela Jimenez"
Actually trail cameras are probably one of the best methods that scientists use to find elusive species. They are usually used in tandem with other methods, such as using bait or scent. So they will set up these cameras in places where they suspect this animals activity. They will also usually put freshly killed meat, or they will use a mating scent to lure the animals close enough to the camera to catch a photo of it!
DeleteLiz Clark
There is a part of your post where you list the methods scientists use to locate and track populations. Out of curiosity, what is a scat? I have never heard of a scat before. Also, is there a chance that climate change has impacted populations of cougars? Could climate change cause the cougar population to shift towards a cooler climate? Could this be another reason why scientists are unable to locate cougars in North Carolina?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Nicholas Georgette"
Scat is just a science term for poop. So the scientists will use it as an indication of activity, it also shows them valuable data about the health of the animal.
DeleteIn terms of your second question, the reason for the rapid decline in population is more attributed to eradication efforts in the late 1800's because they were seen as nuisance animals because they were thought to prey on cattle.
Liz Clark
It is interesting that there are some species that are not actually extinct. I think that the difficulty in trying to fully confirm extinction also lends a great deal to the mystery of it all. I wonder if scientists are attempting to improve their tracking methods to better confirm or deny the extinction status of certain species. It would be interesting to find out which species that have been declared extinct are not actually in fact extinct but still very close. I wonder if climate change has had any impact on these cougar populations in North Carolina.
ReplyDeletePosted by "Brianna Luciani"
The reason for the rapid decline in population is more attributed to eradication efforts in the late 1800's because they were seen as nuisance animals because they were thought to prey on livestock.
DeleteLiz Clark
I have always wondered how we know a species has officially become extinct. It's not as if we are instantly aware when the last member of a species dies out. And usually their numbers dwindle until a certain point where extinction happens very rapidly due to a small gene pool. I liked this post because it offered me some insight into that question. Methods executed by humans are always prone to human error. I wonder how many species we have falsely declared as extinct because of this.
ReplyDeletePosted by Meagan Gustafson