The puma, or cougar, lives in Northern and Southern America and is divided into several subspecies. One of them — east (Felis concolor couguar), once widespread in the northeast of the USA and in the south of Canada — is nowadays officially recognized as disappeared.
On January 23 it was declared by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the USA; the relevant document will receive validity 30 days later.
The last individual of east puma has been caught in the State of Maine in 1938, and the last meeting in Canada (Province of New Brunswick) is dated 1932. Since then neither in Canada, nor in North American states east puma wasn't seen. However, inhabitants of these territories reported about meetings with pumas, however experts are sure that individuals of other subspecies caught sight to people: these animals or migrated from the western and southern regions of the continent, or before lived in bondage — nurseries or in private possession (it is possible to keep in some states quite legally a puma as a pet).