America's Extinct Cougar Is Walking Back East

On the night of June 11, 2011, an SUV hit a young male mountain lion on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Connecticut. Three months earlier, the US Fish and Wildlife Service had announced that the eastern cougar was extinct. So where did he come from? Scientists traced his DNA back to the Black Hills of South Dakota, a walk of more than 1,500 miles. This video follows that trail: why a whole country decided the cat was dead, where the ghost stories come from, what the DNA proved, and why many biologists have stopped calling it a ghost. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:30 How America declared the cat dead 2:20 Ghost stories of the East 4:23 Where the ghosts come from 6:42 The cat with a body 7:39 DNA from the Black Hills 10:24 Why he walked 11:31 He was not the first 13:54 The Florida panther 15:47 What it means for you 16:11 The cat nobody sees 18:15 Back to the road in Milford 20:04 Outro Have you ever seen something at the edge of the woods that you could not explain? Tell me where in the comments. If you like true stories about the deadliest, biggest and strangest animals in America, subscribe to Whitaker Wild. WATCH NEXT Why the Biggest Brown Bear Ever Measured Charged Without Warning:    • Why the Biggest Brown Bear Ever Measured C...   Why Texas's Most Dangerous Giant Isn't the Alligator:    • Why Texas's Most Dangerous Giant Isn't the...   Full series:    • America's Deadliest Animals, State by State   Note: this video is educational. Cougar attacks on people are extremely rare. If you meet a wild cat, keep your distance, do not run, and contact local wildlife authorities. SOURCES Hawley et al. (2016), Journal of Mammalogy: long-distance dispersal of a cougar from the Black Hills to Connecticut U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2011: eastern cougar status review and finding LaRue et al. (2012): cougar confirmations in the Midwest, 1990-2008 Science News and Connecticut Public: coverage of the Milford cougar Chicago news coverage (Sun-Times, CBS Chicago, Chicagoist) of the April 2008 cougar UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Puma Project: collared cougar 46M Study of 1,192 Florida panthers (PMC12337334) and Live Science on the 1995 genetic rescue Scenes marked in the video are recreations. This video uses an AI-generated voice, AI-assisted visuals and AI-recreated scenes. Safety information is general and is not medical advice. In an emergency, call 911. CREDITS Stock footage via Pixabay: adege, AdisResic, ASMRVIDEOSNOCOPYRIGHT, athree23, caelan, CampOotOot, Coverr-Free-Footage, D-GM, DangrafArt, doktorkleinmusic, Eaktas06, Eartvideos, Engin_Akyurt, FindingFootage, Iconikmg, Joe_hackney, JohannesW, Kanenori, KM007_, Kris_Shtern_6786, LAWJR, Life-Of-Vids, lukasbieri, MagicTV, mariancroitoru, Matthias_Groeneveld, MikoEP, MoonpetalMedia, moshehar, motionstock, Najart321, newarta, NickiAnimations, NickyPe, omarzahid, paulmaunders, PIRO4D, Pixvault, PolishSights, Radds, RuslanSikunov, SaturnMermaid, Solarselle77, StuieStu, SurveillancePigeon, Swkclicks, Tolmachev_Alexander, tommyvideo, VariousPhotography, yeracastelan, zameenaasman172. #EasternCougar #GhostCat #MountainLion