Puma
Fast facts
- Conservation status
- Least concern
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Genus
- Puma
- Species
- P. concolor
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.
Written for younger readers
Puma, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Big Cats
NOTOC
The Puma or Mountain Lion is a rather large cat, though it is classified as a smaller cat by scientists. Like smaller cats, pumas cannot roar though they can muster a very startling snarl or a piercing cry. In some places, these cats are also called cougars, catamounts, painted cats, panthers or painters. Scientists call them Puma concolor.
According to an old Mayan legend, all the animals of the jungle once looked the same until the gods offered to make them look different. The jaguar asked, “Let me be spangled with stars,” and it was so. He was pleased with his gift and showed it to the puma. Not to be outdone, the puma asked the gods that he be as splendid as the jaguar, and it was so. Pleased with himself the puma went out to hunt. Unfortunately, he fell and rolled in the dust which clung to his still-wet design. For this foolishness he and all pumas afterwards went through life the color of the earth.
Pumas are widely spread in North, Central and South America. They can be seen in a variety of habitats including deserts, swamps and forests from northern British Columbia all the way down to the southern end of the Andes mountain range. Pumas were driven out of the eastern half of North America by human pressure; a small population remains in Florida and occasionally there are puma sightings in other eastern states. The puma’s habitat looks mostly green or yellow depending on where they are in the world.
Most pumas are a light brown color, with black-tipped ears and tail. The pumas that live closest to the Equator are the smallest, and increase in size in populations closer to the poles. (This sort of size increase is seen in tigers too. The smallest ones live in the tropics, the largest Siberian tigers live far to the north where winters are very cold.) The endangered Florida Panther is the smallest of the Pumas. Like many other cats, they can retract their sharp claws into their paws, which have four toes. The largest male pumas can be as big as eight feet (2.4 meters) long, and females can be as large as seven feet (2.1 meters). The males weigh in a bit less than the average adult human at about 150 pounds (70 kilograms), with females weighing even less at 75 pounds (35 kilograms) or less.
Although pumas do not have a bright pattern, there are distinct black “tearstains” on their upper lips and a vivid white fur around the mouth that emphasizes facial expressions. Although cougars cannot roar, when they growl their “business end” looks rather intimidating, helped along by the markings.
Pumas mostly eat large animals like deer. Because the puma can run very fast, as much as 45 mph (72.42 km/h), and because they can jump 30 ft (10 m) forward from a standing position, they can very easily catch slower animals. Pumas can jump 18 ft (6 m) straight up and can climb onto rocks and up trees to hunt. Their bite is very strong, much stronger than a strong dog’s bite, and their largest teeth are about twice the size of a large dog’s teeth.
Pumas have a very powerful hunting instinct, and have sometimes been known to chase and catch humans on bicycles. A favorite food for pumas is the deer, but they will also eat smaller animals. In areas where pumas and people live close together, pumas have hunted dogs and cats for food, but they usually do not hunt people for food. If you are around a puma, it is better not to run fast or to ride a bicycle, because their instinct is to chase, catch and kill running animals.
On January 8, 2004 a puma killed and partly ate a mountain biker in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, in Orange County, California, but attacks on humans are rare.
These are good safety ideas for areas where pumas live:
Never hike alone, Pumas are more likely to attack people who are alone than in a group.
If you see a puma, do not run, because their instinct might make them chase you. Instead, stand and face the animal, and look into its eyes. Stand tall, raise your arms, and make yourself look large. The puma will think you are a giant and run away. If it comes toward you, scare it away by shouting, waving your arms, or throwing things.
Do not turn away from the puma; do not crouch down or do anything that would make you seem like an animal. If you or someone in your group is attacked, fight back by throwing stones, hitting or kicking. Pumas have been chased away by using rocks, sticks, garden tools and bare hands. The best place to hit a puma is on the nose.
Watch around you when in an area where pumas might be. Like other cats, they like to spring out from a hiding place and attack their prey from behind.
Don’t go hiking with your pet in areas with pumas, because any animal (even a dog) can make a puma want to chase and kill it, because of the “chase reflex” that pumas have. Also, the puma might be attracted to your pet’s food.
Female pumas call to potential mates with a piercing cry that sounds much like a high pitched scream. Every year some panicked people call the police to report an “attack” in progress.
Wikipedia: Puma Next Topic: Lynx and bobcats
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Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Puma” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
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