They denied the presence of cougars (mountain lions) here in Michigan for years. There were thousands of sightings and lots of roadkill but they still kept denying them. Eventually about 3 or 4 years ago they finally decided to acknowledge them.

theres moutain lions and black panthers all over the south the game wardens dont want people to know about them so people wont hunt them somebody in knoxville tennessee got pictures of one on his trail camera

I don't know what motive the game wardens would have to say there are NO mountain lions in the state, and I think it's a brash, ill-advised statement to make. I'm not certain if they're misinformed or if they're concerned it'll affect tourism.
I lived in southern California for 25 years and remember conflicting reports from wildlife biologists about the population density of mountain lions in the Cleveland National Forest. I believe the official position was one in every five square miles. Under later discussion or examination, the state biologist "adjusted" his estimate when mountain lions began to appear at campgrounds and south Orange County shopping malls (dumpster diving).

Everyone knows my position on this by now...solid evidence is necessary...pictures don't cut the mustard(too much can be done with photoshop and the internet these days). Let us know when one turns up dead...they're not invincible. If there as many mountain lions as people are claiming to see, it's only a matter of time...right?

I don't live in the states, but where I do live we thought that there where know mt. lions but then they were in my home town, like in the middle of my h.t. But the only diffrence is that the wardens said that they were their.

Cougar presence status is strictly on a need to know basis.

Part of the problem is whether or not the sightings are actually wild cougars. The above comment about oversized "house cats" is actually not that far off the mark. In many areas the sightings of reurrected cougar populations are in fact peoples' pets turned loose. Some folks with more money than brains buy these exotic kittens to make a fashion statement or whatever and then find that keeping the grown up animal in their home is more than they can handle (DUH!). Rather than put the animal down, they do the "Born Free" thing and liberate it in the wild. These cats typically wind up being the road kills, dumpster divers, pet killers, and potential child killers But the authorities are reluctant to count them as wild cougars. For good reason.

I mentioned on a previous post about mountain lions that finances come into play too. Managing the species that already exist is a very expensive endeavor...managing a populations of animals that "maybe" exist is just plain irresponsible. Solid evidence is needed before any action can be taken.

To straight out deny that mountain lions could exist somewhere is also irresponsible. If there is one thing that biologists and game wardens should learn over time, it is that wildlife is if full of surprises, and although occurances may be unlikely, they are not impossible.

Well, I was turkey hunting in northcentral PA this Saturday, and I saw a fox squirrel on top of a forested mountain. My buddy is a forester, and declared that fox squirrels do not live on forested mountains, nor does their range extend to the part of PA where we were hunting. He says it was just a large gray squirrel, but I realize now that it was a cougar;)