RE: cougars in so illinois?
A tame mountain lion was alledgedly released this fall in the Sanganois Wildlife Area in Cass county by a guy who bought it in Missouri last year. This bit of info was published in the Springfield State Journal Register this week. He is in deep doo-doo over this.
The cougar walked up to some duck hunters looking for a handout.
About two years ago a mountain lion was hit by a train in Southern IL. No signs that it was a tame one(i.e. tags, tattoos, broken claws or defanged)
The Shawnee National Forest is capable of supporting a small population, but I doubt any truly wild ones exist in Illinois.