FAMILY: Felidea

GENIUS & SPECIES: Felis concolor

Long and lean, the cougar is immensely poweful and capable of killing prey such as a bear or bison with a single bite. Although it is usually red or brown, its coloration varies. In Patogonia, where cougars are particularly large, their coats are often red-gray or silver-gray.

HABITAT

Cougars are found in habitats as diverse as the cold, northern woods of Canada, the rocky, western country of the United States, and the tropical rainforests of Brazil. In Argentina, they live in the pampas, and their range extends to the southernmost tip of South America. Instead of occupying a permanent den, cougars rest and find shelter in caves, among rocky outcrops, and in dense vegetation. They generally migrate from the mountains in winter to follow deer and other prey.

FOOD & HUNTING

Cougars are carnivores (meat eaters) and generally hunt at dawn and dusk. Still, they are active by day in areas undisturbed by man.

Like other cats, the cougar stalks its prey, sprinting after it if it attempts to flee. Then, bouncing on the animal's back with a powerful leap that knocks it to the ground, the cougar kills its prey with a single bite to the nape of the neck.

Cougars have large hunting territories, and they eat most kinds of animals. Throughout their range, however, deer is their principal food. In the absence of deer, they eat anything available, including cattle and other domestic livestock.

Cougars can run very fast over short distances, but they tire quickly. If an animal survives a cougar's first attack, it generally escapes. cougars rarely share hunting territories and usually avoid each other, but they make no attempt to defend their own territories or take over those of others.

In wooded country, cougars do much of their hunting in the trees, moving with great agility and speed through the branches. This one bas trapped a raccoon up a tree. cougars stalk and eat large and small animals.

BREEDING

The territories of male cougars may overlap those of females, enabling the males to detect when the females are ready to mate.

During a 14-day period of mating, a male and female will break their normally solitary habits to hunt together and sleep next to each other. The female later gives birth to two to six kittens in a carefully hidden den, located between rocks or in a cave.

Blind at birth, the kittens have spotted coats until they are six months old. They begin to take meat provided by their mother at six weeks, while they are still suckling. Although they can hunt for themselves after nine months, they usually remain with their mother for two years. The cubs then leave her and may stay together for several months before wandering off to establish territories of their own.

cougars mate during a 14-day period.

At two weeks, this baby cougar is covered with soft, dark spots that will later fade

COUGAR & MAN

Once common across the western hemisphere, the cougar has been eradicated in many areas, and its survival is threatened. In some areas, cougars were wiped out in an attempt to protect deer populations. But eliminating a natural predator disrupted the balance of the environment. Consequently, the deer multiplied rapidly, and their habitat was unable to support the large population.

DID YOU KNOW? · The cougar is found over a wider range than any other mammal in the western hemisphere, except for man. · cougars vary greatly in size. · A cougar pounces so violently that it can drag its prey 20 feet along the ground

KEY FACTS

SIZES  

Height: To shoulder, 24-28 in. 

Length: Head and body, 5-6 ft. Tail length: 26-30 in. 

Weight: 80-230 lb.

BREEDING 

Sexual maturity: Males, at least 3 years. Females, 2 years. 

Mating: Year-round. Females usually breed once every 2 years. 

Gestation: 90-96 days. 

Litter size: 2-6, usually 3-4.

LIFESTYLE  

Habit: Solitary, generally hunt at dawn and dusk, but active by day in areas undisturbed by man. 

Diet: Mainly deer, most wild animals. 

Lifespan: Up to 18 years.

RELATED SPECIES Several subspedes, two endangered: Fehs concolor con,i (Florida) and F.c. cougor (northeastern North America).

DISTRIBUTION  

Throughout North and South America from southern Canada to Patagonia.

CONSERVATION  

The cougar is a protected species, but most farmers and cattle ranchers object to its presence. Many animals are shot to safeguard herds, in spite of evidence that cougars rarely attack domestic stock.

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