Common Name: Cougar

Scientific Name: Puma concolor

Description: These cats exhibit a light tan to grayish brown coat. The underside is lighter with darker markings on the ears, around the eyes, and tail. Although this is a large cat (up to at least 70 kg for an adult male), it is not officially a big cat. The hyoid bones are like those of the lesser cats including the domesticated cat. Thus the cougar can purr but cannot roar. The cougar is mostly nocturnal. The cougar is the second best leaper in the cat family, second only to the snow leopard. Leaps close to forty feet are known with vertical leaps in excess of fifteen feet.

Range: The eastern cougars range once included eastern Canada south to the eastern mountain states of the U.S. where it mingled with the coryi subspecies (Florida panther, see below). Although no permanent populations are well known, sightings are reported in the U.S. and Canada. You can learn much more about the South American subspecies in National Geographic's Puma: Lion of the Andes, the result of a two year project in Patagonia.

Florida Panthers: One subspecies of the cougar, Felis concolor coryi has been isolated in Florida including the Everglades. It is Florida's state animal. A wild population is located here in Collier County and a national refuge has been established. Click here to learn more about the panthers and the Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge. The zoo has an annual "Save the Panther Day" to raise money for the conservation of this rare cat. Remote cameras including ones purchased from funds donated by the zoo have photographed the panthers in the refuge including this rare photo of two panthers together.

Habitat: Large wilderness tracts with adequate cover and prey. Water does not present a barrier. Swimming is well documented.

Diet: Carnivorous: small to medium prey. White-tailed deer is favored. Creatures as large as moose are consumed and footage of cougars chasing snowshoe hares is commonly seen on nature programs. Other predators like foxes and bobcats are also known prey for cougars.

Social Life: Solitary except during breeding and females with cubs. An average of two to four cubs are born after a three month gestation. Cubs are born spotted but will mature into their uniform coat by their first year. Approximately 30% of the cubs will die prior to maturity. Juveniles leave the mother around 18 months. Longevity of twenty years in captivity.

Conservation: CITES Appendix II

Recommended LINKS & BOOKS

Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge

World Conservation Union's cougar page

Learn about Hornocker Wildlife Insitute's project with the cougars in Yellowstone.

Dr. David Macdonald's Encyclopedia of Mammals is one of the great standards for mammal information including the cats. Purchase it through Amazon.com by clicking on the photo to help the zoo!

Walker's Mammals of the World Although the photos are mixed quality black and white, this two volume set has great text.

A new book of extraordinary photography including the Florida panthers habitat is Connie Bransilver and Larry Richardson's Florida's Unsung Wilderness: The Swamps The foreword is by Jane Goodall.