Every Animal That Was Declared Extinct In 2018 (And Those Likely To Go In 2019)

Technically, the puma, cougar, mountain lion, panther, and catamount are all the same species of animal and overall, they are not threatened with extinction. That doesn't mean that extant populations aren't threatened from time to time and that is certainly true of the eastern puma, which was declared extinct on 22 February 2018.

Prior to the 19th century, pumas were often seen in the northeastern United States with populations existing as far north as Maine, but they began declining towards the early part of the 20th century.

Since that time, few individuals were observed and the last wasn't seen since 1938. Since that time, the eastern puma was listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Seeing as nobody had seen an eastern puma in over 80 years, this extinction, or more appropriately, extirpation, should have been declared long ago. Regardless, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service chose 2018 as the time to finally stop looking for cougars in the northeast United States, which is why these (likely) long dead animals found their way onto this list.