News stories tagged with "cougar"

(12/15/11) A new cougar cub is making himself at home at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown. For this Heard Up North, Joanna Richards got an intimate look at the young cat and spoke with the zoo's curator, Sue Sabik, about how he's growing up in his new home. more

(02/11/10) Word spread this week about a story of a cougar killed in the Adirondacks -- but state conservation officials say it was just the local version of a hoax that's been moving from region to region for months. Martha Foley has more. more

(12/02/09) Lots of people say they've seen a cougar on the prowl in the North Country. Biologists say that for more than a century, there's been no proof: no photos, no carcasses, fur or other DNA.

But many northern New Yorkers are convinced they've seen a cougar, puma, panther or mountain lion. All those names refer to the same big, North American cat. And, as Jonathan Brown reports, it is possible that these sightings are REAL.

(12/01/09) Cougar sightings are up--here--in northern New York. No one has found any physical evidence that the big cats are once again prowling the area. But, the cougar rumor mill has a life of its own. And where these animals are concerned, new stories bring the old ones back for another telling.

Jonathan Brown talked with lots of people in the Adirondack North Country who believe they've heard the call of the cougar.

(03/12/07) The US Fish and Wildlife Service plans to look at whether the Eastern cougar exists. The agency will be looking in 21 states from Maine to Michigan, and down to Tennessee. As Linda Stephan reports, the review could end with a recommendation to remove its endangered status.

(05/11/06) Reported sightings of cougars in the Adirondacks persist, though the native breeding population was wiped out nearly a century ago. While some sightings are suspect, others come from reliable witnesses. Are cougars returning from areas in Canada? Are these "extreme" pets, escaped or returned to the wild? Martha Foley and Curt Stager talk about big cats.

(02/12/02) For many years, state and federal wildlife officials have considered the cougar extinct in New York and the rest of the Great Lakes region. However, many people claim to have seen the large predatory cat long after it supposedly disappeared. Investigations are underway in many states, and in Canada. Now, a wildlife biologist in Michigan says he has proof that a breeding population of wild cougars is living in the Upper Peninsula. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Gretchen Millich reports.