Cougar | Facts & Information

Peculiarities: the hind legs are longer than the front ones

It is a mammal that belongs to the family Felidae native to the Americas. This solitary cat covers the largest land area in the western hemisphere, being found from Yukon, Canada to South America to the Andes.

It is the second" cat " after jaguar in weight in the Western Hemisphere. The Puma is more genetically similar to small felines, such as cats, than to close-sized animals such as lions. Like a known predator, he prefers ambush tactics.

Due to excessive hunting by American colonists and Human Development, the Puma's habitat has been reduced and with it the animal population.

Since the 20th century the puma population has been isolated in some places in North America.

Due to the large area that puma has occupied in the past puma is known by most names. It is the record holder with the most names, being known over 40 names of the animal.

The family Felidae is thought to have originated in Asia about 11 million years ago.

Puma Feed

The Puma is a successful predator, eating anything it can catch, from insects to animals with hooves over 500kg. Like all cats she is a meat lover, which means she basically feeds on meat to survive.

The most frequently sought and hunted species are deer, especially in North America, deer, elk, mules, wild horses, domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, and others. He also drives boars and armadillos.

A study in America showed that hoofed animals account for 99% of basic food. Smaller mammals are preferred In Europe, including large rodents such as the capybara.

Hooves account for 40% of the food, the rest of the percentages being occupied by mice, hedgehogs, hares, birds, reptiles, and others.

Although they can do fast sprints the Cougars prefer ambush surprise. They hide in trees or bushes from where they jump to the front of the prey and a suffocating bite in the neck area brings them deserved dinner.

Sometimes it breaks the neck of some of the small animals that it hunts because of its strong bite and impulse. It usually kills an animal every two weeks, but when it has cubs the period decreases, especially when they are large, reach maturity around the age of 15 months, puma must hunt once every 3 days.

Usually after killing the prey he takes it to a known place and covers it with leaves, twigs, etc.to consume it for several days.

It is generally known that pumas consume only prey killed by it, but according to a study in California in which deer carcasses were left, they were eaten by Pumas, probably because they prefer deer meat.

Puma Appearance

Puma is a strong and agile animal. It is the fourth largest animal among large cats. Adults are 60 to 90cm tall at shoulder level.

Males reach lengths of 2.5 m from the nose to the tip of the tail, and females just over 2m. males weigh between 60 and 100kg, and females between 30 and 70kg.

The smallest puma, in size, can be found at the equator, and the largest at the poles. The largest puma is said to have weighed 136kg. She was shot in arizona.

The head is round and the ears are straight. Its powerful neck and jaws give it the ability to bite and grab larger prey. It has retractable claw cinges at the front paws and 4 at the rear.

Although it is large, it is not as muscular and strong as the Jaguar. Despite its rather large size, it is not classified as a large cat.

It cannot roar like the lion because it has no larynx, communication is minimal at the species level, sounds can be heard in the mother-cub relationship, otherwise the puma is a silent feline.

The cougar growls, hisses, purrs and has other activities comparable to those of the domestic cat. They are known for their screams, which are often misinterpreted and refer to some of their common names.

The coat is uniform in color, hence the Latin name concolor, puma concolor. Color can vary greatly even between siblings. The usually reddish-yellow fur can vary to silver-gray, reddish, including the jaws, chin and neck.

Puppies are born with blue eyes, with spots and color rings on the tails. The paws are large, the back proportionally larger, allowing the cat to make big jumps and short sprints.

A 5.4 m vertical jump is reported.

On the horizontal puma has the ability to make jumps between 6 and 12m. it can run at speeds of 55-75km/h, but for short distances. It is adapted for short sprints, not chases.

As any cat tends to climb trees to escape enemies, it cannot be said that it loves water but can swim if needed.

By 1980, 32 subspecies of puma were recognized. The research of mammal species in the world recognizes six major subspecies of which five are found in Latin America:

North American Puma (Puma concolor couguar)

South American Puma (Puma concolor capricornensis)

Puma Argentina (Puma concolor cabrerae)

Costa Rican Puma (Puma concolor costaricensis)

South American Puma (Puma concolor puma)

North American Puma (Puma concolor concolor)

Cougar Behavior

Like almost all cats puma is a solitary animal, only mothers and Cubs live in groups and adults during the mating season. The most active period of the Puma is at dawn and dusk.

The territory occupied by the puma estimated by the Canadian Geographic is between 150 and 1000 sq km by males and half occupied by females, while other studies show that a puma occupies only 25km to 1300 sq km by males.

In the United States there were reported 775 sq km occupied by puma.

Breeding Cougar

Females reach sexual maturity from the age of 18 months to 3 years. They usually mate every 1-3 years. Females go into heat for 8 days.

The gestation period is about 91 days. Females are sometimes reported as monogamous, but this is uncertain, polygamy is more common.

In captivity the reproduction rate is lower due to stress. Only the females take care of the education of the offspring. They fight inversely for the protection of the little ones, often being seen fighting with animals much larger than usual, such as grizzly bears.

It gives birth to 1-6 Cubs, usually 2 or 3 in places away from other animals such as caves or larger Burrows. Puppies are born blind and are very dependent on the mother at first. They are weaned at the age of 3 months and start hunting with their mother.

After six months they begin to hunt small animals on their own. At birth they have spots that help them camouflage themselves from enemies and as they grow they disappear. Young adults begin to settle on their own territory at the age of two, males usually break away from the family earlier.

A study has shown that the mortality between Cougars is due to the fact that those who leave their mothers move too far away and enter the territory of other Cougars.

The average life expectancy in the Wild is 9-13 years. An 18-year-old female has been hunted in Vancouver.

In captivity, Pumas live for 20 years.