Learning about
Cougar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) |
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Cougar range map
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| Felis concolor |
The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the puma or mountain lion, is a New World mammal of the Felidae family. This large, solitary cat has a vast range, extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An adaptable generalist species, the cougar is found in every major New World habitat type. Due to overhunting and continual human development of cougar habitat, populations have dropped in many parts of its historical range, although recent conservation efforts have allowed numbers to improve in some areas.
There is a considerable variation in color and size of cougars across the large range of habitats. It is on average the second heaviest cat in the Americas, after the jaguar, and the fourth heaviest in the world, after the tiger, lion, and jaguar; the cougar is larger on average than the leopard, but is not typically counted among the "big cats" as it cannot roar and is classified in the Puma genus rather than Panthera.
Capable as both a stalk-and-ambush and chase predator, the cougar pursues a wide-range of prey. Its primary food is deer but it also hunts insects, mice and rabbits, domestic cats and dogs, alpaca, livestock, and also other large game such bighorn sheep and elk. In the Rocky Mountains it sometimes preys on mature cattle and horses. It is a secretive cat and usually avoids people; it has been known to attack humans, but rarely.[2]
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Naming and etymology
In the English language the cougar has over 40 different names. Cougars are known by many regional names, including panther, catamount, painter, American lion, Mexican lion, Florida panther, silver lion, red lion, red panther, red tiger, brown tiger, deer tiger, ghost cat, mountain screamer, Indian devil, sneak cat, king cat, and painted cat. The word puma comes from the Quechua language. In Brazil it is also known as the suçuarana, from the Tupi language, but also has other names.
In North America, particularly the United States, "panther" by itself refers to a cougar when the context implies a local species. In South America, "panther" refers to both the spotted and black color morphs of the jaguar.
Physical characteristics
Cougar colouring is plain (Latin concolor) but can vary greatly between individuals. The coat is typically tawny, but ranges to silvery-grey or reddish,[3] with lighter patches on the under body including the jaws, chin, and throat.
The cougar is a slender and agile cat. The length of adult males is often reported at around 2.4 m (8 ft) long nose to tail, with overall ranges between 1.5–2.75 m (5–9 ft) nose to tail suggested for the species in general.[4][5] The higher end of this length range equals that of the jaguar, but the cougar is less muscled and powerful than its felid cousin. Males have an average weight of about 53–72 kg (approx. 115–160 lb). Some in rare cases may reach over 120 kg (260 lb). Female average weight is between 34–48 kg (approx. 75–105 lb).[3]
The cougar can run as quickly as 70km/h (43.5 mph), jump 6 m (20 ft) from a standing position, and vertically leap 2.5 m (8 ft). It has been seen to jump horizontally 12 m (40 ft) and vertically nearly 5 m (16 ft). One cougar was observed jumping 3.6m (12 ft) up into a tree while still holding a deer in its jaws.[citation needed]
Cougar claws are retractable and it has four toes, with a dew claw on its front paws. The cougar is somewhat smaller in South America, than in North America. Cougar kittens have brownish-blackish spots and rings on their tails. Their life span is about a decade in the wild and 25 years or more in captivity. Cougars that live closest to the equator are the smallest, and increase in size in populations closer to the poles.
Although the cougar is frequently lumped in with larger cats, the cougar is distinct in that it cannot roar, and makes vocalizations much more common to small cats.
Hybrids and melanism
In spite of not being closely related to the pantherine big cats, hybrids between the cougar and the leopard have been bred and are called the pumapard. Hybrids between the cougar and the ocelot have also been bred. Hybrids between the cougar and the jaguar have been reported, but none have been proven.
In spite of anecdotal accounts of "black panthers" in the cougar's range (and outside the Jaguar's), melanism has never been documented in the cougar. Such anecdotal accounts are particularly prominent in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, a region where P. concolor is accepted as having been wholly extirpated by the late 1800s, and where breeding populations have not been documented as re-established by 2005.
Population and distribution
The cougar has the largest range of any wild cat. Before the modern human population explosion in the Americas, the cougar ranged across most of the Americas. Even now, it has the widest range of any New World land animal, spanning 110 degrees of latitude, from northern Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes on both the Chilean and Argentinean sides. It has also been sighted recently in northern Connecticut and other parts of New England, however, sightings are not generally regarded as reliable enough to serve as scientific evidence.[6] One of the few locations where the cougar is in great danger is within the United States, mainly Florida and other parts of the East Coast. This is mostly due to human infringement, clashing with cities and other urban advancements or because of the loss of territories that urbanization brings. When the cougar is found and relocated to more "wild" parts of the state, it is put into competition with pre-existing populations.
Cougar populations of the United States and Canada
Hunted almost to extinction in the United States and eastern Canada, the cougar has made a determined comeback, with an estimated 30,000 individuals in the western United States. In Canada, the cougar is found west of the Prairies, in Alberta, British Columbia and southern Yukon. It is also found in smaller numbers within the Canadian Shield and river valley regions of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. They are occasionally seen in the mainland of southeastern Alaska.[citation needed] The densest concentration of cougars in North America is found on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, while in the United States the densest concentration is in the Ventana Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest, California.[1]
The cougar is gradually extending its range to the east, following creeks and riverbeds, and has reached Missouri, Michigan and Kansas. In Texas, the cougar is generally confined to the western ⅔ of the state. However, there have been Cougar sightings in 218 of the 254 Texas counties, with confirmed mortalities in 67 counties since 1983, an indication that it is expanding statewide to its historical range.[4] There are continuing reports of the survival of a remnant population of the eastern cougar in Maine, New Brunswick, Ontario and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec.
In the eastern United States, rumors and myths of the cougar never died, but this cat is slowly making its way from myth to reality, especially along the Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to Georgia. In this region cougar sightings are steadily increasing, and a government bounty is offered in many places for confirmed sightings. One very compelling piece of evidence surfaced in June 1997, when a Kentucky man hit and killed a cougar kitten with his truck. DNA analysis proved that the animal was descended in part from wild North American cougars, and it showed no evidence of having been someone's escaped pet.[2]
The sightings are not limited to the mountains either. Locals as far east as the Coastal Plain of North Carolina have reported sightings. In 1994 Charles R. "Buster" Humphreys Jr. claimed in his book, Panthers of the Coastal Plain to have recorded over 500 sightings of cougars. Half of these were coal black panthers. This species has never been officially recorded in North Carolina.[7]
Due to urbanization in the urban-wildland interface, cougar ranges increasingly overlap with human habitation, especially in areas with a large population of deer, its natural prey. In these cases, the cougar may occasionally prey on livestock and on pets, such as dogs and cats. Cougar attacks on humans have increased since the late 1980s when cougar hunting was effectively banned in many states and the cougar populations began to climb dramatically. Even so, cougar attacks are still rare. Cougar hunting is still common in the United States, and is permitted in every state from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean with the exception of California. The cougar is typically hunted with dogs that chase the animal until it climbs a tree, whereupon the hunters shoot it.
There are an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 cougars in California (circa 1990) and an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 in Colorado.
Behavior
The cougar can kill and drag prey about 7 times its own weight. It normally hunts large mammals, such as deer, but will eat small animals, such as the American beaver, the North American porcupine or even mice, and can even kill a moose if the need arises. Its diet consists of 50 different species. It hunts alone and ambushes its prey, often from behind. It usually kills with a bite at the base of the skull to break the neck of its target. The carcass of the kill is usually then buried or partially covered to protect it for several days, while the cougar continues to roam and comes back for nourishment as needed. The cougar does not enjoy being a scavenger, however, and will generally hunt for its own food and not eat from a carcass, even if one is available. The cougar will catch and kill its prey 82% of the time, and are consequently finicky eaters. Like other cats, it will also move to certain areas for feeding. Adult males tend to claim a 100 square mile (250 km²) stretch for their territory; adult females take 20 to 60 square miles (50 to 150 km²) on average; however their ranges can vary from as much as 370 square miles (1000 km²) to as little as 10 square miles (25 km²).
The cougar, like all other cats, is territorial, although more territorial than most cats, especially animals from desert and very snowy regions. It will mostly avoid fighting and usually wards off others with urine markings, but it sometimes competes aggressively for territory, especially among males. Interactions with other predators are not well documented, but some interactions have been studied. An adult American black bear may be able to kill a cougar and steal its kill, but generally conflicts between the two predators do not occur. Wolves have been known to kill cougars, and are often seen stealing their kills in Yellowstone National Park. Despite being fearsome when it comes to territorial disputes with other cougars or protecting its young—they have been seen warding off bears—it is mostly shy and reclusive, and tends to avoid humans.
A male may breed with several females. Females usually have 3 or 4 kittens in a den in a rocky location. If a male cougar invades the territory of another male, he may kill the kittens of resident females so that they will become receptive to mating.
Attacks on humans
Attacks on humans are rare, but do occur, especially as humans encroach on wildlands and impact the availability of the cougar's traditional prey. There were around 100 cougar attacks on humans in the USA and Canada during the period from 1890 to January 2004, with 16 fatalities; California, which has the highest population density of areas with a significant cougar habitat, has had 64 attacks and 16 fatalities, most of which happened in the past 10 years. Attacks by cougars on humans and pets are associated with urban areas situated in the wildland urban intermix such as the Boulder, Colorado area, which have encouraged a traditional prey of the cougar, the mule deer, to habituate to urban areas and the presence of people and pets. Cougars in such circumstances may come to lose their fear of both people and dogs and come to see them as prey.[8] "Given the opportunities available," notes wildlife biologist Kevin Hansen, "attacks on people are surprisingly rare events indeed, suggesting an overwhelming willingness on the part of the cougar to live and let live, at least where humans are concerned."[9]
As with many animals, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human being stimulates its instinct to chase, or if a person mistakenly "plays dead." Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud but calm shouting, and any other action that makes a person appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat; fighting back with sticks and rocks may also cause a cougar to disengage.[10][11]
On January 8, 2004 a cougar killed and partly ate a mountain biker in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Orange County, California; what is assumed to be the same animal attacked another mountain biker in the park the same day, but was fought off by other bikers. A young male cougar was shot nearby by rangers later in the day.
The Cougar cannot be hunted in California except under very specific circumstances. This, as well as the extermination in California of the gray wolf and brown bear, has allowed the Cougar to increase its numbers. California law requires that wild animals who have attacked a human must be killed if they can be located.
Subspecies
- Amazon Cougar (Puma concolor discolor)
- Andes Puma (Puma concolor araucanus)
- Argentine Puma (Puma concolor pearsoni)
- Baja Californian Cougar (Puma concolor improcera)
- Bolivian Cougar (Puma concolor osgoodi)
- Brazilian Cougar (Puma concolor concolor)
- California Cougar Puma concolor californica)
- Colombian Cougar (Puma concolor bangsi)
- Colorado Cougar (Puma concolor hippolestes)
- Costa Rican Cougar (Puma concolor costaricensis)
- Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor cougar)
- Ecuador Cougar (Puma concolor soderstromi)
- Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi)
- Incan Cougar (Puma concolor incarum)
- Kaibab Cougar (Puma concolor kaibabensis)
- Mato Grosso Cougar (Puma concolor acrocodia)
- Mayan Cougar (Puma concolor mayensis)
- Mexican Cougar (Puma concolor azteca)
- Missoula Cougar (Puma concolor missoulensis)
- Oregon Cougar (Puma concolor oregonensis)
- Patagonian Puma (Puma concolor patagonica)
- Texas Cougar (Puma concolor stanleyana)
- Vancouver Island Cougar (Puma concolor vancouverensis)
- Wisconsin cougar (Puma concolor shorgeri) (extinct, but numerous sightings have been reported)
- Yuma Puma (Puma concolor browni)
Culver (2000) has reported that many of these subspecies are genetically similar. This study suggests that the original North American subspecies of Puma concolor became extinct during the Pleistocene extinctions some 10,000 years ago and that North America was then repopulated by South American pumas, leading to the genetic similarity of modern North American cougars. The subspecies suggested by Dr. Culver are the following:
- Argentine Puma (Puma concolor cabrerae)
- Costa Rican Cougar (Puma concolor costaricensis)
- Eastern South American Cougar (Puma concolor capricornensis): includes the previous subspecies discolor and acrocodia
- North American Cougar (Puma concolor cougar): includes the previous subspecies coryi, shorgeri, cougar, azteca, improcera, missoulensis, hippolestes, oregonensis, vancouverensis, californica, kaibabensis, browni, stanleyana, and mayensis
- Northern South American Cougar (Puma concolor concolor): includes the previous subspecies concolor, bangsi, soderstromi, incarum, and osgoodi
- Southern South American Puma (Puma concolor puma): includes the previous subspecies patagonica, puma, pearsoni, and araucanus
