Historically, locals referred to the cats as "panthers," and their existence in the past is well known. In June of 2015, however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally deemed the Eastern cougar extinct, with the exception of the Florida panther, which still roams some parts of southern Florida. According to researchers, the last indigenous Tennessee cougar was killed in 1930, and biologists assert that the cats responsible for the recent spottings have migrated from the West, through the Midwest, and now into the Southeast.