Cougar
(Puma (Felis) concolor)

Classification and Range
Cougars, also called pumas, panthers or mountain lions, belong to the family Felidae, which includes 36 species of cats.* Cougars are the sole member of the genus Puma. Only the jaguar is larger than the cougar in the Western Hemisphere.

Other than humans, cougars are the most widely distributed land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Cougars range from northwestern Canada to Patagonia, South America.

Habitat
Cougars inhabit areas from sea level to 19,000 feet (5,800 m) in the South American Andes. They inhabit steep, rocky canyons, tropical rain forests, prairies, deserts, coniferous forests and swamps.

Length and Weight
Adult male length (including tail) is up to 9 feet (2.8 m); females up to 7 feet (2.1 m). Male cougars weigh 150-230 pounds (68-104 kg); females weigh 80-130 pounds (36-59 kg).

Life Span
Approximately 15 years in the wild; over 20 years in captivity

Diet
In the wild: Cougars primarily hunt from dusk till dawn, and prey on a wide range of large and small mammals including deer and other hoofed animals, raccoon, rabbits and rodents, birds and invertebrates.

At the zoo: Horse meat, mutton, chicken, rabbit, beef and knuckle bones.

Reproduction
Female cougars sexually mature at about 2.5 years of age; males at 3 to 4 years. Cougars are solitary and only pair up for three to four weeks during the mating season, which normally occurs during winter months. Gestation lasts about 90-95 days. Females usually give birth in late winter or early spring to two or three cubs, but litters can be up to six cubs. Males take no part in the rearing of cubs, and have been known to kill unattended cubs.

Life Cycle
Cougar cubs are born with their eyes closed. Opening at about two weeks, their eyes are blue and take about 16 months to change to a greenish-yellow. Cubs weigh 1 pound (454 gr) or less at birth, nurse for about three to four months, but can eat meat at about 6 weeks. Their coats have dark spots, which begin to fade after about six months. Cubs usually remain with their mother for 18 to 24 months; thereafter they seek to establish their own unoccupied, individual territory. After leaving their mother, littermates often stay together for four months or more.

A male’s territory, seldom overlapping with another male’s territory, may be up to 200 square miles (520 km2), and it overlaps or encompasses many smaller territories of females. They mark their territories by scrapes on trees or in the soil, which are usually sprayed with urine

The Cougar-Wolf Connection
With the absence of wolves at Yellowstone National Park since the early years of this century, cougars were able to move from their normal range of steep, rocky mountain sides to flat valleys. With the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone in 1995, however, cougars have found the valleys an undesirable place. Other than humans, wolves are the only natural predators of cougars. Wolf packs at Yellowstone have been observed tracking cougar and stealing their prey. On a less frequent basis, wolves have killed cougars. Today, cougars are returning to their normal steep, rocky habitat. Wolves are helping to restore the predator/prey balance of nature at Yellowstone.

Location at the Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo’s cougars can be viewed at their exhibit in the Trail of Adaptations. Other cats seen at the Trail of Adaptations include the Pallas’s cat, clouded leopard and Sumatran tiger.

Conservation Connection
There are fewer than 50 Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) left in the wild, and they are listed as critically endangered. The Costa Rican puma (Puma concolor costaricensis) and eastern puma (Puma concolor couguar) are also listed as endangered.** To a lesser degree, cougar populations are vanishing from large areas throughout the Western Hemisphere. As humans move into established cougar territories for agricultural and residential purposes, negative human/cougar encounters increase. Cougars consider livestock and pet animals as prey. Cougar attacks escalate as humans build homes and recreate in once remote cougar habitat. As a result, these predators are increasingly viewed as dangerous pests that must be exterminated. To control their numbers, some states allow cougars to be legally hunted with the use of dogs.

The removal of cougars, however, has a detrimental effect on nature’s intricate balance. Where cougars are eliminated, populations of prey animals (such as deer) expand. As prey numbers increase, limited vegetation is soon overgrazed. As adequate food supplies diminish, deer and other prey animals starve at massive levels. At the human level, animals that were once eaten by cougars and other predators destroy crops.

How You Can Help!
The effort to save endangered animals requires cooperation and support at the international, national, regional and individual levels. You can help in this cause. Join and become active in Woodland Park Zoo and other conservation organizations of your choice. Limit the construction of roads into pristine areas that allow human access into remote cougar habitat. Contact your elected representatives and express your views about conservation of endangered species and wild habitats. Contact Woodland Park Zoo at 206.548.2500 to find out ways you can support conservation programs at the zoo. Learn more about endangered cats by contacting the IUCN Cat Specialist Group at their Web site at lynx.uio.no/catfolk/. Discover other ways you can help conserve wildlife and the habitats they require for survival by visiting www.zoo.org/conservation/help.html

Sources and Suggested Reading
Alderton, David. 1993. Wild Cats of the World. Facts on File, Inc. New York, NY. 192 p.
Kitchener, Andrew. 1991. The Natural History of the Wild Cats. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithica, NY. 280 p.
Landau, Diana, ed. 1996. Clan of the Wild Cats. Walking Stick Press. The Nature Company, Florence, KY. 191 p.
Sleeper, B. 1995. Wild Cats of the World. Crown Publishing, Inc., New York, NY. 216 p.

For Kids!
Clutton-Brock, Juliet. 1991. Cat. Eyewitness Books, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, NY. 64 p.
Wexo, John Bonnett. 1998. Little Cats. Zoobooks, Wildlife Education, Ltd., San Diego, CA. 16 p.

* Taxonomic classification varies between references. Classification information used in this fact sheet was taken from Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic And Geographic Reference, edited by Don E. Wilson and Dee Ann M. Reeder, Second Edition, 1993.