Should we bring mountain lions back to the Northeast?
6/15/202613 min
Big cats used to roam the entire United States. You might know them as mountain lions, pumas, cougars, or catamounts. Though they go by many names, they're actually all the same species.
Their current population is mostly confined to the West, and part of Florida, though in recent years they’ve been spotted in other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most cougars were gone from the Northeast by the 1800s, with the last verified accounts in the 1930s.
Mountain lion ecologist Mark Elbroch hopes to reintroduce these big cats back into their previous habitats in New England. But, should we? What are the benefits and drawbacks of reintroducing the apex predator into an ecosystem it's been away from for so long?
Guest:
Dr. Mark Elbroch is the director of the puma program at Panthera, a big cat conservation organization.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Jane Lindholm· Host0:24
[instrumental music] Hi, I'm Jane Lindholm, and you're listening to Science Friday. I'm filling in today for Flora and Ira. Big cats used to roam across the entire United States. You might know them as mountain lions, pumas, cougars or catamounts. They have many different names, but they're actually all the same species. Their current US population is mostly confined to western states and a small population in Florida, though in recent years they've been spotted east of the Mississippi River. Most mountain lions were gone from the northeast by the 1800s, with the last verified accounts in the 1930s. My next guest is a mountain lion conservationist hoping to reintroduce these wild cats back to their previous habitats in New England. But should we? Dr. Mark Elbroch is the director of the Puma program at Panthera, a big cat conservation and advocacy organization. Mark, thank you so much for joining me.
Mark Elbroch· Guest1:23
Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having, having me on the show.
Jane Lindholm· Host1:26
Let's just jump right in. Why would people wanna