Species: Puma concolor

Cougar

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

A large cat with an elongate body, powerful limbs, small head, short face, short rounded ears, and long neck and tail; two color phases: buff, cinnamon, and tawny to cinnamon rufous and ferruginous, and silvery gray to bluish and slaty gray; young are buffy with dark spots, and the eyes are blue for the first few months; color of upperparts is most intense midorsally; sides of muzzle and backs of ears are black; underparts are dull whitish with buff wash across the belly; end of tail is dark brown or blackish; adult total length 171-274 cm in males, 150-233 cm in females; adult tail length 53-81 cm; mass 36-120 kg in males, usually 29-64 kg in females; greatest length of skull 172-237 mm in males, 158-203 mm in females (Nowak 1991, Hall 1981, Maehr 1992, Wilson and Ruff 1999).

Articles:

A cat gets its feet wet

February 08, 2023

Biologists are intrigued by the prospect of island-hopping cougars in the Salish Sea. Could swimming ability lead to improved genetic diversity among the big cats?

A cougar swimming with its head above calm, glassy water.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Felidae

Genus

Puma

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101637

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Mountain Lion - Onça-Parda, Puma, Suçuarana - Puma - Puma, León Americano - cougar

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Carnivores

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae - Puma - Mitochondrial DNA analysis by Culver et al. (2000) revealed genetic uniformity across all regions of North America, relative to Central and South American populations, Culver et al. (2000) postulate that cougars were extirpated from North America during the Pleistocene extinctions of many large mammals, and only recently (circa 10,000 years ago) reinvaded North America; they suggest only one subspecies should be recognized.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A large cat (mountain lion, cougar, puma, panther).

Migration

true - true - false - In Idaho, migrates between fairly distinct but usually contiguous winter-spring and summer-fall home areas (Seidensticker et al. 1973). In California, some lions migrated together, often slowly, following movements of mule deer, between winter and summer ranges; other lions migrated quickly, crossed the Sierra Nevada crest, and summered in a disjunct range with lions not sharing their winter range (Pierce et al. 1999).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Primary food is deer in many areas. Highly opportunistic, also eats various large and small mammals (bighorn sheep, livestock, coyote, squirrels, rabbits, mice, etc.), insects, and reptiles. In Peru and Chile, rodents and lagomorphs, respectively, were important prey (see Hansen 1992). Unused remains of prey are covered for later consumption. Stalks prey from ground. In southern California, on average, an adult killed about 48 large and 58 small mammals per year and fed for an average of 2.9 days on a single large mammal (Beier et al. 1995).

Reproduction Comments

Gestation lasts about 82-100 days. In the Northern Hemisphere most births occur in April-September, may occur throughout the year in Arizona. Litter size is 1-6 (usually 2-3). Young are weaned after 2-3 months. First reproduction usually occurs at 2-3 years. Young remain with mother for 1-2 years. Usually 2 years between litters (sometimes 1 year if litter does not survive). In the wild, probably few live beyond 10 years.

Ecology Comments

Primarily solitary in some areas, extensive overlap of home ranges in other areas (see Pierce et al. 1999). In Idaho, mutual avoidance maintains density of breeding adults below level set by food supply. Annual home range varies greatly in different areas (13-1454 sq km); home range of male (generally 200 to several hundred sq km) averages larger than that of female (Kitchener 1991; Pierce et al. 1999; see also Hansen 1992 for interstate comparisons of home range size). See Beier et al. (1995) for information on movements in the Santa Ana Mountains, southern California. See Laing and Lindzey (1993, J. Mamm. 74:1056-1058) for information on replacement of individuals on vacated home ranges in Utah. Density usually not greater than 3-4 adults per 100 sq km (8-10 per 100 sq mi) (Kitchener 1991). Annual mortality rate in an unhunted population in Utah was 26%, over 50% in resident adults in a hunted population in Montana (see Hansen 1992).

Length

274

Weight

120000

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-19

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-19

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Historically had widest distribution of any native American mammal (other than humans); from Canada south to southern Chile and southern Argentina and from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. In eastern North America, now definitely known to occur only in southern Florida and Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Evers 1992). Possibly a small population exists in southeastern Canada; see Stocek (1995) for a review of recent reports from the Maritime Provinces. Elsewhere in North America, currently restricted mainly to mountainous, relatively unpopulated areas. Sea level to 14,800 ft.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101637