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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
cougar,
panther, mountain lion, puma |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Carnivora |
| FAMILY: |
Felidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Felis
concolor |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Largest
member of the genus Felis. There are two
primary color phases. Phase one is yellow shades
of buff, cinnamon and tawny. Phase two is gray shades
of silver, slate and bluish. Long, lithe body. Neck
and tail also long. Small head with short, rounded
ears. Hind legs longer than front legs. |
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| SIZE: |
Animals
in the tropics are smaller than the animals in the
northern and southern ranges. Males are larger than
females. |
| MALE |
Head/body
length = 1,050-1,959 mm (41.3-71 in.) |
| Shoulder
height = 600-700 mm (23.6-27.6 in.) |
| Tail
length = 660-784 mm (26-30.9 in.) |
| FEMALE |
Head/body
length = 966-1,517 mm (38-59.7 in.) |
| Shoulder
height = 600-700 mm (23.6-27.6 in.) |
| Tail
length = 534-813 mm (21-32 in.) |
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| WEIGHT: |
Males
weigh more than females |
| MALE |
61-103
kg (134-227 lb.) |
| FEMALE |
36-60
kg (79.4-132lb.) |
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| DIET: |
Feeds
primarily upon deer. Will also prey on other ungulates,
beavers, porcupines, hares, and wild hogs. Usually
drags prey to sheltered area and consumes a portion.
The rest is covered with leaves and revisited over
several days. |
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| GESTATION: |
90-96
days; Litter size is 1-6 young |
| ESTRAL
PERIOD |
Averages
23 days |
| NURSING
DURATION |
Nurse
for 3 months or more but begin eating some solid
food at approximately 6 weeks |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
Reproductive
activity does not occur until a range is established |
| MALE |
Usually
does not mate before 3 years; remains reproductively
active at least 20 years |
| FEMALE |
2.5
years; may remain reproductively active until at
least 12 years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
20+
years in zoological setting |
| FEMALE |
A
female killed in the wild was at least 18 years |
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| RANGE: |
Has
greatest natural distribution of all terrestrial
mammals in the Northern Hemisphere except humans.
Southern Yukon and Nova Scotia to southern Chile
and Patagonia. |
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| HABITAT: |
Very
diverse, found in forests, swamps, grassland, and
deserts |
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| POPULATION: |
REGIONAL |
16,000
in mountainous portions of western North America,
Texas, and Florida |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
F.
c. coryi and F.c. couguar listed as Critically
Endangered |
| CITES |
F.
c. coryi, F. c. couguar, and F. c.
costaricensis listed as Appendix I; All other
subspecies are listed as Appendix II |
| USFWS |
F.
c. coryi, F.c. couguar, and F. c.
costaricensis listed as Endangered |
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| 1. |
Very
agile and muscular. Has been known to jump 5.5 meters
from the ground into trees. |
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| 2. |
A capable but somewhat reluctant swimmer. |
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| 3. |
Most acute sense is sight. Hearing also very good.
Sense of smell not considered to be very well developed. |
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| 4. |
Hunts
by stalking. Frequently leaps on the back of prey
sometimes after a brief chase. Kill frequency averages
one deer every 3 days for females with large cubs,
as compared to one deer every 16 days for a single
adult. |
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| 5. |
Vocalize
by making growls, hisses and birdlike whistles,
and infrequently loud screams. The function of the
scream is not known. |
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| 6. |
Young
are born with spotted coats that fade by about 6
months. At that time they are able to make their
own kills, but remain with their mothers for several
more months up to a year. Litter mates may stay
together for 2-3 months after that. |
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As
an apex predator cougars help keep prey populations
in check. They also help strenghten the prey populations
by feeding primarily on the sick and weak. Studies
of prey taken by the central Idaho population
of cougars showed that over half of the mule deer
and elk taken were in poor condition.
Viewed
as a threat to livestock and humans, cougars have
been hunted intesively since the arrival of the
Europeans to the New World. By the early twentieth
century cougars were reduced to ranges in the
mountainous portions of the West, southern Texas,
and Florida (see Florida
panther).
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| Nowak,
Ronald M. (ed.). Walker's Mammals of the World.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. |
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