There are signs of a possible re-population of the American cougar...

Cougars are moving east from their traditional western habitats

The American mountain lion or cougar is now re-populating parts of the US, scientists say.

Their numbers had plummeted in the last 100 years because of hunting and a lack of prey.

Writing in the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers say the cougar is now spreading far outside their traditional western habitats.

But they say the return of the big cats raises important questions about how humans can live with these predators.

The cougars' decline was caused by hunting and a decline in their prey

Such has been the decline of the cougar in some parts of the United State that the US Fish and Wildlife service declared the eastern cougar extinct just last year.

For decades mountain lions were seen as a threat to livestock and humans and many States paid a bounty to hunters for killing them.

The Green Planet has  posted a number of stories over the years about endangered or threatened species around the globe. It is hoped the cougar is making an overall comeback.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18425472#

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