http://m.thecabin.net/news/lifestyle...inct#gsc.tab=0

"Why does the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission insist there are no cougars in the state? Wait a minute. What the AGFC says, and has said repeatedly over a number of years is that there is no evidence of a breeding population of cougars in the wild in Arkansas. The agency does not deny that there may be some of the big cats roaming around, but the opinion is those are escaped pets or deliberately released pets.

Someone buys a baby cougar. Oh, how cute. The cat grows up. Maybe it is declawed. A hundred-pound-plus cougar, declawed or not, is a factor around the house. The fun and games with the baby cougar disappear, and the owner tries to give it away. Nothing doing. So under cover of darkness, the cougar is taken “out in the woods” and turned loose.

This is cruel to the animal, a pet since it was a baby. It is forced to fend for itself, find food or die of starvation."

The EASTERN COUGAR is the cougar that originally inhabited Arkansas and since now they are EXTINCT (and have been through all these sighting for 20 years) what you have now is cougars being released and/or perhaps breeding but you don't have the eastern cougar "coming back" as you stated
"I got the PR Director of AGFC in my kitchen (at camp) and grilled him."
And if you have me in your kitchen grilling me I'd admit to smoking on the Hindenburg to get out...