Vermont Advocates Revive 145-Year Cougar Return Push With 2027 Feasibility Study
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 5
Vermont Advocates Revive 145-Year Cougar Return Push With 2027 Feasibility Study
1 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 5
Summary
A Vermont bill to study reintroducing cougars is expected to return in 2027 after dying in committee, reopening a push to restore the catamount to the Green Mountain State.
Advocates at Mighty Earth say cougars could cap the Northeast’s rewilding by cutting deer numbers and potentially reducing tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme and Alpha Gal.
1881 marks Vermont’s last actual catamount, while the last confirmed eastern cougar sighting in the region was in Maine in 1938; the U.S. removed the extinct eastern puma from the endangered list in 2018.
Scientists and wildlife trackers warn reintroduction would bring social and safety challenges because mountain lions roam widely and could conflict with people, pets, and livestock in a far more populated region.
1,500 bobcat reports in Rhode Island and frequent mistaken sightings elsewhere show the region’s appetite for big-cat stories, even as officials say bobcats remain the only known wild wildcat in states such as Massachusetts.