Eastern cougar (SciiFii)

Eastern cougar or eastern puma (Puma concolor couguar) refers to the population of cougars that live in northeastern North America, which some authorities considers to be a subspecies. The eastern cougars were once unofficially deemed extinct by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluation in 2011 and officially extinct in 2018, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduce eastern cougars back to their former range to help boost biodiversity. Like the western populations of cougars, which are still common in western North America, the eastern cougars are very common throughout most of the eastern North America. Like other cougars, it is an adaptable, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the eastern cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although daytime sightings do occur. The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are ungulates, particularly deer. It also hunts species as small as insects and rodents. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but can also live in open areas. The eastern cougar is territorial, and survives at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey. The conservation status of the eastern cougar is Near Threatened due to some habitat loss and historic persecution, however, thanks to the conservationists, the eastern cougars are making a comeback.