Today eastern cougars may be extinct. No breeding populations have been positively identified within the historic range since the 1920's. Unconfirmed sightings continue to be reported from the mountains of North Carolina and the Virginias. F. c. hippolestes - Historically, F. c. missoulensis ranged from British Columbia east to Manitoba, and south to eastern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, northern Wyoming, and northern North Dakota. The current distribution of this subspecies was not described in the available literature.
Mountain lions occupy a wide variety of plant communities.