Syracuse.com - DEC weighs in on issue concerning reintroducing cougars to the Adirondacks.

[HuntingNY-News]

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"DEC has no plans to reintroduce cougars at this time. Before any reintroduction program could be considered, a biological assessment of the success of such a reintroduction and a human dimensions survey to determine the public support for such a project would need to be completed," a DEC spokeswoman said.

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<p>I wrote a story this week concerning <a href="http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2013/01/suny_oswego_profs_suggestion_t.html">SUNY Oswego prof John Landre, who suggested that up to 350 cougars could be introduced to the Adirondacks.</a> I included in that story reaction for a SUNY ESF professor Rainer Brocke who studied that back in the early 1980s and deemed it unreasonable because of the number of roads in the Adirondacks and the fact that many would likely die from cougar/car accidents.</p>

<p><strong>Late this afternoon, DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino weighed in with DEC's response to this idea:</strong></p>

<p>"DEC has no plans to reintroduce cougars at this time. Before any reintroduction program could be considered, a biological assessment of the success of such a reintroduction and a human dimensions survey to determine the public support for such a project would need to be completed.<br /> <br />"There are many resident species that are endangered, threatened or in need of conservation. DEC believes it is best to work on the conservation of those species that are still here before considering any reintroduction programs.</p>

<p>"This is particularly true because the eastern cougar has been declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and any reintroduction would therefore by necessity entail non-native subspecies.</p>

<p>"We are not aware of any other reintroduction programs but we are aware that mountain lions, which are hunted as big game animals in many western states, are expanding their range."</p>

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog