The cougar probably has as many different common names as they do so called geographical races: catamount, mountain lion, painter, Mexican lion, mountain devil, mountain screamer, king cat, and red tiger to mention a few. They also have the greatest latitudinal distribution of any species of wild cat, ranging from northern British Columbia in Canada, to the extreme southern tip of South America. There have been over 30 subspecies of cougar described by various authorities, but these are mostly local variations or races that gradually blend into one another over their range. Recent genetic studies have indicated that the current subspecies should be reduced to six.

Because of their immense range, there is a wide variation in coat colour, from a buff or sandy brown to reddish brown, through to a light silver and slate grey. The coat is fairly short and coarse, being somewhat darker on the back, and a pale buff on the chest, belly, and inner sides of the legs. Overall, the coat is fairly uniform in colour and is essentially unmarked. Their head is fairly small, with dark brown to black patches on the muzzle, and irises of green gold to yellow brown. The ears are short and rounded, and grey to black on the backs. The forelegs are shorter than the hind legs, and the footpads are relatively large. Their tail is fairly long and slim, gradually darkening towards the tip. The cats found in Central and South America are smaller than those in North America.

Cougar range through a wide variety of habitats, from coniferous, deciduous and tropical forest, through swamps, grasslands, and semi deserts, from sea level to altitudes of 4,500 metres. Radio telemetry studies in Chile have found cougar home ranges to be up 100 square km, with the cats often covering up to 16 km in a few hours. Incredibly adaptable and very athletic, they have great leaping ability and are good climbers. They swim well but prefer not to enter the water unless it is necessary. Sight is their most acute sense, hearing is well developed, but their sense of smell is not particularly acute.

Primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, activity peaks at dusk and dawn. They hunt over a wide area, carefully stalking their prey and leaping on its back, or seizing it after a short, swift dash. A list of prey species would include moose, deer, elk, caribou, beaver, porcupines, ground squirrels, marmots, pacas, agoutis, mice and rats, hares and rabbits, raccoons, coyotes, opossum, wild hogs and peccaries, guanacoes, and even bats and grasshoppers. Domestic stock such as sheep, goats, cattle and horses are also taken. Large kills are often covered with scraped over vegetation and dirt, and the cats remain in the vicinity, returning frequently to feed. However, they seldom eat carcasses killed by other animals.

Female cougars are seasonally polyestrous, and there are no sharply defined breeding seasons in most of the range. Most births in North America occur from late winter to spring. The receptive period can last up to nine days, and male-female associations occur only during this time. Females usually give birth every other year. One to six, usually two to four, cubs are born in a cave, rock crevice, hollow log, under an over turned tree, or in thick vegetation. The gestation period is 80 - 96 days. Cubs weigh 226 - 453 grams at birth and are spotted with dark brown spots over a brown buff coat. The spots gradually fade as they grow. Their blue eyes change to the greenish-yellow or yellowish-brown of the adults by 16 months of age. The eyes open at nine to ten days, they begin walking around 14 days, and nurse for three months or more, but begin to take some meat at six weeks old. The young cats will remain with the adult female at least through their first winter, and often up to 18 - 24 months. Litter mates may travel and hunt together for a few months after leaving the female. Sexual maturity is attained at around two and a half years of age for females, but males take at least three years. They have lived to 21 years.

Cougar are fairly common in zoos, and in-vitro fertilization at the National Zoo in Washington, DC has produced embryos, including that of the endangered Florida panther subspecies Puma concolor coryi.

Various native peoples in North and South America have revered the cougar as they have the jaguar Panthera onca. The ancient Peruvian city of Cuzco was laid out in the shape of a cougar. The Cochiti Indians of New Mexico carved life sized statues of this cat out of stone and created a mesa top shrine in their honour. Great Lakes tribes believed their tail whipped up waves and storms, and Christian missionaries in southern California found the cougar to be a significant obstacle in the establishing of missions. Natives so respected the big cat that they refused to hunt it or protect livestock herds from its predations.

As one of the top predators in the food chain, the cougar has been persecuted unmercifully by man. A combination of guns, poisons, snares, traps, and hunting dogs have been used in this persecution, often under the guise of government sanctioned predator control (bounty) programs. As recently as 1988, almost 200 cougars were killed in a program run by the United States Department of Agriculture. Farmers and ranchers have had a running feud with these cats for decades, and land use and stock management practices must be changed before this situation can be improved.

In an effort to help restore the depleted genetic make-up of the Florida panthers, officials have released a few Texas cougars into south Florida. It is hoped these new animals will breed with the established cats to strengthen the gene pool and prevent inbreeding.

In Central and South America, cougar still occur throughout much of their historical range, and are protected in all countries but Ecuador, El Salvador and Guyana. The North American population is fully protected in the eastern portion of its range, but elsewhere protection status varies considerably. There are less than fifty Florida cougars or panthers left in southern Florida, and they have been placed on Appendix I of CITES, along with two other subspecies, the Eastern and Costa Rican. All other subspecies are placed on Appendix II.

Whatever your views on the cougar, it certainly seems to bring out the worst as well as the best in people. Let us hope that the best is good enough to allow this magnificent cat to survive far into the future.

Cougar photo © Dwight Knapik.