Puma

Pumas (Puma concolor), also called cougars, mountain lions, catamounts, or brown panthers, are large wild cats. They live in the western half of North America, Florida, and most of Central and South America. Description Pumas are mainly tan in color. They can be up to 9 feet long, although average length is 6 – 8 feet. They can weigh from 29 kilograms to 90 kilograms. (The males are larger.) Most pumas live up to 21 years. Unlike the big cats in the genus Panthera, the puma cannot roar. Instead, it can growl, hiss, screech, and purr. Most of the big cats can only purr while breathing out. Female cougars take care of their babies until they are old enough to take care for themselves. Baby cougars are called cubs or kittens. Diet Pumas are hyper-carnivores; they eat only meat. They are apex predators that prey on deer, elk, bighorn sheep, guanacos, raccoons, squirrels, foxes, rabbits, and skunks. Their prey can also include mice, beavers, coyotes, bobcats, birds, porcupines, fish, and bear cubs. They sometimes prey on livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs. Pumas hunt at night. They have good hearing and night vision, better than humans do. They stalk their prey, which means they walk slowly and quietly, they hide, and then when close, they jump or run fast to catch their prey by surprise. They live and hunt alone. Habitat Pumas live in the mountains and forests. They prefer to stay far from people, but encounters with humans happen sometimes. In the last 30 years, 26 people have been killed by cougars in North America. However, many more cougars have been killed by humans. Cougars used to be found all across eastern North America, but they were hunted to extinction there by the beginning of the 1900s. Recent sightings of cougars have been reported from Michigan, New Brunswick, southern Indiana, Kentucky, and Vermont. For now, the only confirmed population of cougars east of the Mississippi River is in Florida, where a subspecies called the Florida panther lives. Related pages Jaguar Lion Leopard Cheetah Sources Other websites IUCN Archived 2007-05-17 at the Wayback Machine Information on Pumas Archived 2012-11-20 at the Wayback Machine