a friend of mine ,hunting last season saw what appeared to be a cougar . it was stretched out standing on its hind legs scratching on a dead tree. after coming out of his deer stand he saw its tracks he called the d.e.c. and reported his story .they initially denied that there are any lions in n.y. then they fessed up and reported leting some free .another hunter using a game cam reportedly has a picture of one that was taken about a mile away both these sightings are with in a mile of a populated village. another person saw a lion a couple years ago crossing a road by a n.y.c. resivior .it stopped after crossing the road and looked back over its shoulder at the car