The country of Georgia, that is. I read/saw the artical in Wildlife Conservation magazine that a tom leopard was photographed, using a trail camera in the mountains. The cat was thought to be extinct in that region for a least fifty years.....I guess the cats were there all along, just doing what they do best!
The artical really brought a smile to my face.
Wolf

Well, in my Georgia, we do do still have a few big cats around... Just don't get your hopes up of hunting them anytime soon!


Big Cats in Georgia?
Panthers – Are the Big Cats Back?
By J. P. Akin

I bent over the print looking at the impression in amazement. I would have never expected to encounter a track like this - not in the middle of Georgia. It was a clear, well-placed indention in the ground. Better yet, I had a witness with me to prove that it was no fluke or misidentification.

The track was the remnant of a passing cougar or a “panther,†as we say in the south. It measured a full 4 inches across and was pressed deeply into the damp, red Georgia clay. The track was well formed and seemed to convey no sense of hurry on the transient animal’s part. It was as if the panther had paused, briefly had a thought and silently glided through the adjacent fence line.

I looked at my companion and said one word, “Panther.†“Yep,†was his only reply as our eyes met.

Both of us found ourselves suddenly taking an extra moment to observe the surrounding brush. Perhaps, it was apprehension that drove our observation. It was a simple primitive desire to affirm that we didn’t see two other eyes watching us.

The track was lying along a very remote stretch of fence line - near a large Flint river tributary. The fence ran deep into the swamp and appeared to have had no real upkeep for many years. We followed the tracks for a few yards before they were lost in a patch of blackberry bushes. The blackberry briars forced our slow retreat. The cat had passed through this brush without so much as a tuft of fur being left behind.

This incident spurred me onward to investigate the phenomena that occasionally we see reported by lonely hunters, forest rangers, and late-night motorists. The report is always the same – a big black or dark cat is seen for a few seconds and vanishes into the woods. The report is likely to garner little attention, maybe a short blurb in a local paper, leaving the witness puzzled over the encounter.

I observed this compelling remnant of the animal world and was amazed at the subtle way it had presented itself. It seems when looking for something, it can’t be found. When something is least expected, it will appear. The track had presented itself in this same manner. I had no thought of encountering a creature like this in modern Georgia, but here was the proof.

Nothing happened the rest of that day. We walked into the brush and surveyed the land. We kept an eye out for any other signs – none were found. However, the incident planted a seed within my mind, and I began to keep my ear to the ground for any other “panther†stories or incidents.

It was in this same year, another story made its way to me. A long-time friend made a comment in a local gathering place about his panther encounter on a well-traveled, paved road in the southern part of our county.

He stated as he was traveling toward his home he had nearly “struck a pantherâ€. The creature, he related, was the size of his Labrador retriever and dark brown in color, almost black. It had frozen in the headlights of his small truck before darting into a nearby stretch of woodland. He recalled that another motorist had been traveling in the opposite direction and stopped to watch the animal disappear, as well.

Another friend, a police officer who was attending this conversation, casually stated that he had recently witnessed a foraging panther late one night. He had been working on the graveyard shift and was checking behind some local businesses. He got a big surprise. As he was examining the back entrance of a local Bar-B-Que restaurant, a panther had bolted out of the trash dumpster. Presumably, the panther had a taste for pork and this was an easy way to supplement its daily menu.

The police officer’s encounter was less than 2 miles from the previously stated encounter. The proximity led me to believe that it was the same foraging animal.

I drove to the restaurant sighting area to explore. I was disappointed to find no track(s) or other sign of the witnessed animal. However, I was not discouraged. I began to earnestly investigate the reports that trickled in about “panthers,†“black panthers†and other mysterious felines. It seemed to me that some very reliable people were encountering something in our suburban and rural areas that was unexplained. They couldn’t all be completely mistaken about the animal. A large, tawny to dark brown mountain lion tends to stick in ones memory!

My research led to the various reported sightings across the state of Georgia and the southeastern United States. I was surprised to find how numerous the sightings actually were. Many individuals, especially deer hunters, seemed to encounter these creatures with some frequency. I wondered why deer hunters in particular appeared to occasionally cross paths with these free-ranging big cats. It wasn’t until I actually began a study of the animal itself and its history that the picture became clear.

The Eastern Cougar History

What do we know about the mountain lion? It is certainly a part of American lore. It was blamed for countless livestock deaths in the last couple of centuries. It was hunted to almost to extinction and many specimen animals taken in the eastern United States. There was a great flurry of kills in the last two centuries and then a sudden drop in the occurrence of such events (near the beginning of the twentieth century). The animal seemed to fade into the past. It became part of folklore and the frequency of killed animals ceased. Yet, the sightings have persisted until today.

My ongoing investigation prompted me to study these creatures. I read everything I could find on these elusive cats. In general, I found out that they are still rather common in the American west (far less so back east). The two sub-species that most interested me were the Florida panther and the eastern cougar.

The Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) and the eastern cougar (Felis concolor couguar) are sub-species of the larger North American cougar family. The Florida panther is generally found only in the extreme southern areas of Florida. The eastern cougar once ranged from Texas to Maine. Once upon a time, the two sub-species’ ranges merged in the central Georgia area. Unfortunately, both current cat populations are considered endangered or nonexistent and their continuing existence in the southeastern portion of the United States is in doubt.

According to the United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service: “the cougar is described as a large, unspotted, long-tailed cat. Its body and legs are a uniform fulvous or tawny hue. Its belly is pale reddish or reddish white. The inside of this cat's ears are light-colored, with blackish color behind the ears. Sometimes the cougar's face has a uniformly lighter tint than the general hue of the body (De Kay 1842). Cougars feed primarily on deer, but their diet may also include small mammals, wild turkeys, and occasionally domestic livestock, when available. “

“Historic records indicate that the eastern cougar once occurred from eastern Canada southward into Tennessee and South Carolina, … Recently there have been some sightings reported in Minnesota and Michigan. These individuals are believed to have originated from around New Brunswick or Manitoba, Canada (Bob Downing, personal communication 1991). In the Southeast Region [sic], there have been a number of sightings, but the best evidence for a small permanent population has come from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Region. Based on a National Park Service study that included both sighting reports and field observations, there were an estimated three to six cougars living in the park in 1975. Sightings have also be reported in three other North Carolina areas including the Nantahala National Forest, the northern portion of the Uwharrie National Forest, and the State's southeastern counties. The remaining population of this species is extremely small; exact numbers are unknown.â€

The description was enough to drive me to want to examine a living specimen. But, how does one make an appointment to meet a cougar? I remembered that a small nature center near me had a cougar. So, I called the facility and inquired about seeing their cat. I spoke with the Director of The Dauset Trails Nature Center, Ike English, about the possibility of examining and photographing their western cougar. He was very obliging.

I journeyed over to the Nature Center in Butts County, Georgia. The Dauset Trails facility is widely known for its efforts to rehabilitate and protect native animal species. The center has many animals that are indigenous to the southeastern United States. Their collection includes fox, raccoon, buffalo, whitetail deer, coyote, reptilian and avian species

I questioned Mr. English about the Dauset cat and its plight. English explained that the western cougar displayed at Dauset Trails is a former pet. The cat had been raised in captivity and was treated as a domesticated animal. Sadly, nothing could have been further from reality.

The cougar’s former owners had found as the cat matured it became uncontrollable. It was (and is) very rambunctious (I was informed by English that it will playfully pounce on anyone that enters the enclosure area.).

The owners thought that a playmate would be the answer. They purchased a Doberman pinscher for this task. Sadly, the puma killed the dog in short order. So, faced with a cat raised outside of nature (and being declawed), they donated it to Dauset Trails.

I met English late in the afternoon on a nice, warm winter day. We walked up into the nature center itself toward the cougar enclosure. The enclosure grew in size as we approached it. At last, I caught sight of the cougar.

I watched the cougar plod back and forth within the enclosure. It was magnificent in its coloration and movement. No movement or effort is wasted in its stride. It is alert, intense and will fix you with a glare that exudes power and intelligence. I could easily see how someone would be stunned and frightened when confronted by one of these animals.

I was a bit nervous as we entered the enclosure. The cat was immediately attracted to our presence and made its way to our location outside its main living area. It purred loudly and began to rub its face against the bars of the enclosure. I thought of how similar it was to the common house cats that people keep as pets. I reached out to stroke it and stopped short. Momentarily, I was forgetful that this creature could easily harm me. It is this human tendency that makes pets out of dangerous animals.

I began to pour plaster casts (I wanted a couple of plaster casts for future verification. It seemed like a handy idea to have a proof positive example if I encountered new evidence.) and inquired to Mr. English about his knowledge of the eastern cougar. He echoed an explanation that I would encounter many times over the next few months. It was his personal opinion, and that of most animal professionals, that the eastern cougar only exists in very isolated areas or not at all. He felt it did not appear to have a breeding population in Georgia. I asked him about the many sightings in our state? His feeling was one of two possible choices: 1. People were mistaken in their identification. 2. The animals encountered were released western cougar pets.

I thanked Mr. English for his assistance and left the Dauset western cougar busily chewing on a chicken leg (The leg had been donated for the sake of better cooperation on the feline’s part). I felt the next logical step would be to contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and get their opinion. Certainly, if anyone knows Georgia Wildlife, the “DNR†folks would!

I wrote Col. Ron Bailey of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources about the Eastern Cougar. Col. Bailey is the chief officer for the state’s DNR law enforcement division.

He related several stories. He had been involved in several “big cat†incidents (including a “liger,†a cross between a tiger and a lion), but had never had a verified panther sighting. He kindly referred me to Scott Frazier, Wildlife Biologist, to attempt and gather as much information on Department records as possible.

Mr. Frazier was very kind and described the state’s current situation involving “free-ranging big cats.†It seems that the current hotspot for “panther†sightings in Georgia is the southwestern portion of the state. In the year 2000, the southwest Georgia region (Albany) logged eleven panther reports. The reports came from the following counties: Lee (1), Marion (1), Terrell (1), Colquitt (1), Grady (3), Thomas (4). In addition, he shared that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources had taken part in a mountain lion capture at Paulk’s Pasture WMA in Glynn County, Georgia. However, this capture was in assistance to Florida DNR in the recovery of a cougar released in their state (as part of a research project). Lastly, he shared that a hunter had taken a video of an alleged mountain lion in Hart County, Georgia. I was given permission to see this videotape. The tape quality was very bad [DNR had stated as such] and it was nearly impossible to determine if the cat displayed was a mountain lion. The video was taken on a logging road and purports to show a mountain lion perched in the middle of the road hunting. The tape proved to be just another piece in the puzzle.

Mr. Frazier concluded that his personal opinion was one of skepticism. He pointed out that a breeding cougar population would certainly be more visible. He believed that we would have reports every month in our wilderness areas, as opposed to the occasional ones that currently trickle in yearly, and at least some incidents of road kills. He thought that most reports were misidentifications or released western cougars.

I thanked him for his help and turned next to the United States Department of the Interior for a broader look at the regional cougar activity. I was certain that more information on potential sightings must exist. I was not disappointed.

In a document released under the Freedom of Information Act, I found some interesting statistics concerning the potential existence of a viable, free-ranging cougar population in Georgia, whether they are the indigenous eastern variety or imported cougar populations. In a report entitled, “ Centralization and Investigation of Cougar Sighting Data in Georgia,†which was part of a long-term (July 1, 1978 through June 30, 1990) investigation project termed the “Statewide Endangered Wildlife Project†some interesting statistics came to light.

This project had several determining factors in the consideration of a particular panther sighting's validity. It created a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being the actual collection of a live or dead cougar, and 5 being reports that were found to be unfounded, attributable to other animals, or judged to be totally unreliable. The great majority of Georgia reports fell into the category 4: a report received from less qualified observers where no physical evidence was collected (a total of 317 investigated reports). In addition, there were 21 reports that were in the higher category 3 area, (reports received from observers who were judged highly qualified to objectively recognize animal species in the field) which concluded that the reporting person had seen something that may have been a free-ranging eastern cougar.

The locations for these sightings were distributed as follows: Forest (54%), Forest-Agricultural (24%), Agricultural (12%), Suburban (9%) and Urban (1%). The sightings were reported from a variety of settings. However, clearly the largest number of sightings (approximately 78%) occurred in the Forest/Agricultural setting.

The color phases of the animals reported varied from tawny to the often-reported black phase coloration. According to the report, approximately 40 percent of the reported cougars sighted were described as being black or dark in coloration. NOTE: In isolated populations of animals, often a particular color scheme will develop due to the lack of a fluid gene pool. In the United Kingdom, in their many phantom panther sightings, similar statistical coloration fallout has occurred.

Finally, I found another report from the Eastern Puma Research Network. This report was for the year 1994. It was entitled, “Statistical Review of Puma Concolor Sightings†and did have a statistical overview of Georgia. In statistics taken from the research network, the total number of puma sightings for Georgia, since July 1983, was 45. Of the 45 reports taken, 35 were natural or tawny in color, 10 were Black, and 8 were reported as cubs. These findings were mirrored all across the southeast. Every state had generally the same number of sightings. The Florida evidence is skewed since it has a known, living panther population.

So, what are we to conclude? I know that the footprint I examined was of a cougar. I could not tell if the animal that left the print was an eastern cougar or a western cougar. I could not determine the coloration of its coat. All I can conclude is that in that isolated bit of highland swamp, a cougar did pass by. Luckily, I can take heart that I am not alone in the belief that there are cougars in the southeast. A few hundred Georgians and other southerners have witnessed something that could roughly be described as a free-ranging big cat, whatever its origins.

I have a theory about the ongoing possible existence of the eastern cougar. Swamps are, by definition, not pleasant or easy to travel. Men build bridges over rivers and swamps to avoid contact with these type environments. Perhaps, man’s avoidance assured the creation of micro-biomes of the previous indigenous fauna and flora. I believe that this may be the way that these creatures survived in the southeastern United States. They perched themselves in these people-unfriendly locales and survived. The cats were locked in a living time capsule, unable to contact their distant cousins in the west. Their geographic isolation may have proved to be their salvation.

The great majority of rivers and creeks in the southeast are not navigable by industrial or commercial watercraft. These rivers are meandering, shallow waterways banded by thick swampland and bottom areas. The banding swamps prove to be virtually impenetrable and protective of the wildlife populations inhabiting these areas. They have become, in effect, wildlife highways. So, the few cats that survived could move about without the constant molestation of man. In addition, the southeastern repopulation of copious herds of whitetail deer, wild turkeys, feral pigs and other species of wildlife are a caloric boon to any large cat attempting to make a living.

If one looks at a map of Georgia, one can literally follow the progression of many rivers and creeks across the entire state where no city or municipality encroaches into the swampy, bottomlands surrounding these waterways. A specific example of such a “wildlife highway†exists in Georgia. The Flint River runs roughly from Fulton County around the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport all the way to the distant Gulf of Mexico. In the hundreds of miles the Flint River travels, it rarely comes near or crosses into a very populated or industrial area. Instead, the river progresses through much unimproved and swampy land, especially in South Georgia.

The Flint passes near the Apalachicola National Forest in Northern Florida. This is a large, protected forest with known panther sightings. It does not stretch one’s imagination to see that with some caution, a creature adapted to this environment could easily traverse north and south along this river in relative safety. A map that accompanied the “Statewide Endangered Wildlife Project†report from 1990; included a listing of the various sighting locations across the state. I was surprised to see that the largest majority of sightings (type 3 or 4) occurred along the southwestern course of the Flint River. Admittedly, this is just a theory, but it seems to have been a fairly reliable area for suspected cougar sightings during the study period (1978 –1990). It corresponds with the year 2000 “hotspot†area of sightings reported by the Department of Natural Resources, as well.

It is my belief that if these creatures exist, they are in a tough situation. They are far behind the enemy lines of civilization. Genetically, they are isolated and geographically they are marooned. If this creature exists in the eastern or southeastern portion of the United States, it must be in a very limited number and in specific habitats. The Florida panther is a prime example of this problem. It has a very limited range area (if we consider documented range area only) and is having problems due to interbreeding and genetic isolation. One of the indicators that seem to point to this genetic anomaly is a “crook†in the tail of some specimens. This particular genetic trait can be traced to a particular breeding female. Subsequently, it has been tracked over time and is spreading as the limited population interbreeds. In a related incident, a Georgia hunter who was unaware of this peculiar fact, stated that the panther he had encountered had a “crooked†or a sharp bend in the tail. This may lead one to believe that other isolated cougar communities are having genetic problems, as well.

Certainly, one must take the advice of the Department of Natural Resources very seriously. The fact remains that in recent days there has been no collection of a live, indigenous free-ranging big cat in Georgia or most of the southeast. The last known collection of a dead specimen in Georgia was in the Statesboro area many years ago. While the possibility exists that these cats could be roaming Florida panthers – it is unlikely. However, rumor has it that these cats are not Florida residents. Many southeastern investigators of this phenomenon believe that these cats are being re-introduced by someone (whether private or public entities) to curb the massive (and still growing) southeastern deer populations. It makes sense (however unlikely); these cats will eat up to 50 deer a year. But, I have found no substantive proof of this rumor.

In truth, we could be witnessing an influx of released “pets†back into the southeastern woodland. This seems to be a viable explanation, and a testament to the irresponsibility of man, if one considers the experience of the United Kingdom. The release of many large cats into the British woodlands in the early 1970s has, in the opinion of many U.K. naturalists, repopulated Great Britain with “big catsâ€. This is an unknown and currently under investigation by the British researchers I contacted.

Lastly, we should consider that many of the sightings are wishful thinking and misidentification. This is the saddest explanation for me. I, like many other sportsmen, would like to see this cat return to the natural habitat of its ancestors. However, in the face of ever-growing urban sprawl – it may just be a dream.

My personal hope is that our once common panther is still hanging on in the southeast. It is certainly fighting the odds if it is. Perhaps, a few have held on and are growing in number as the deer and other game are becoming more plentiful. It is only right that they should, this was their habitat and they played an important role in the character and folklore of our region. I can imagine nothing so beneficial as the reestablishment of these beautiful creatures.

These animals are the responsibility of all concerned sportsmen. Every year, thousands of us journey into these isolated habitats in to fish, camp and hunt. It is certain that if we journey to these locales and an eastern cougar population does exist – we will occasionally encounter such a cat. I would suggest that these encounters be documented and reported to the Department of Natural Resources in your geographic location and to the Panther Project, P.O. Box 411, Griffin, GA 30224. Email: jpakin@mindspring.com. After all, we have an obligation to help this animal recover – we depleted its number and destroyed its habitat.

If you do see a cougar while in the outdoors, please do not molest the animal. Remember: it is illegal in the United States to molest, harm, or hunt an eastern cougar or Florida panther. Instead, try to obtain evidence of its passing. A good still photograph, a clear videotape, a plaster cast of a footprint, or a deer kill attributable to the animal, could all be a great piece of evidence to substantiate the encounter. Your evidence could help provide the basis for funding recovery programs or the establishment of protective zones. The little bit of help you give now could benefit future generations.

References:

Georgia Department of Natural Resources (2000). Category III, Region V Wildlife Nuisance Abatement Report

http://endangered.fws.gov/i/a/saa48.html

http://www.dausettrails.com/

http://www.panther.state.fl.us/handbook/threats/inbreedthreat.html

Johnson, Stephen C. (1978-1990). State Endangered Wildlife Project. Centralization and Investigation of Cougar Sighting Data in Georgia

Interesting artical about the mtn lion. The mtn lion and the leopard have the largest area of distribution of any of the big cats, proof of their adaptability. Israel has a small population of leopards living in the negev desert to this day, lions have been extinct in Israel since early roman times. Wolf