Middle Atlantic

The Middle Atlantic region consists of the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Virginia. While these states have numerous sighting reports, none of these incidents have met the Cougar Network's strict criteria for a confirmation.

Confirmation Map

In November 2002, the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife (DDF&W) believed that they had at least two free-roaming cougars in the state. The Delaware wildlife officials claimed to have confirmed the presence of cougars in the state over a period of several years. They were convinced that these alleged animals were of captive origin. Sighting reports and confirmations of "cougar"  presence generally came from New Castle and Kent Counties in the northern tip of the state. Evidence allegedly included home video footage, pictures, tracks, scat and sightings by DNREC staff and law enforcement personnel. New Castle County Police Corporal Butch LeFebvre discussed his efforts to capture one of these cats in a March 5, 1996 NPR interview. LeFebvre, who had experience hunting cougars in the West, was ultimately unsuccessful.  The Cougar Network has requested documentary evidence to back up the state's claims, but none has been forthcoming to date.

Conclusions

The available evidence suggests that sighting reports from this region are most likely misidentifications of other animals (e.g. bobcats, dogs, coyotes, housecats). However, it is always possible that an escaped or released captive could be at large at any given time. These states are far from any area with known populations from which cougars could easily migrate. It is also a region where it is unlikely a remnant breeding population could have survived undetected over the past century. There was an old incident in western Pennsylvania in 1967 where a squirrel hunter shot a cougar while out hunting, but it was later confirmed that this animal was an escaped captive. In West Virginia, hunting with dogs is very popular. According to the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, every year thousands of hunters using hounds are out in hunting season pursuing bobcats, black bears and other wildlife. This means you would expect these hunters would regularly tree cougars if they were present, but this has not occurred.