In February 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar (also known as the catamount or ghost cat) officially extinct after decades without a sighting. The last confirmed example of what had been America's largest native cat was shot in 1938 in Maine. On the East Coast, only the ghost cat's relative, the Florida panther, remains. But some outdoorsmen insist the eastern cougar's still alive, just living in small numbers far from prying eyes, and offering only rare, fleeting glimpses to humans, giving it its "ghost cat" nickname.

In February 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar (also known as the catamount or ghost cat) officially extinct after decades without a sighting. The last confirmed example of what had been America's largest native cat was shot in 1938 in Maine. On the East Coast, only the ghost cat's relative, the Florida panther, remains. But some outdoorsmen insist the eastern cougar's still alive, just living in small numbers far from prying eyes, and offering only rare, fleeting glimpses to humans, giving it its "ghost cat" nickname.