Cougars in New York

Large carnivores have been eradicated from many areas. One example has been the loss of cougars in New York state. Over the past decade efforts have been made to encourage the reintroduction of the apex predator. Read the articles below to gather insight and perspectives.

Too Many Deer on the Road? Let Cougars Return, Study SaysA repopulation of cougars in the Eastern U.S., with their steady diet of deer, could reduce the number of lives lost to deer-automobile collisions.

Cougars in the wild in New York? Not yet, the state saysCougars should be reintroduced to the wild in New York and other Eastern states, advocates say. But New York says it has no plans at present to do so.

Review Assignment

Read these pieces to consider two sides to the issue. Then use Google Scholar or another search engine to find a recent (after 2015) peer-reviewed journal that could be used to inform the public about potential impacts of reintroducing cougars. Using these resources, write a response (~3 pages) that summarizes the two arguments, presents examples of why each may be true, and state what you think about the issue (should we re-introduce cougars to NY)?