Cougar

The cougar is a large wild cat that lives across North and South America. It is also called the mountain lion, puma, panther, and catamount. In fact, the cougar has more common names than any other animal in the world, over 40 in English alone. All of those names point to the same animal: a tan-colored cat with a long tail, a small head, and powerful back legs.

An adult cougar is about 6 to 8 feet long from nose to tail tip. Males can weigh up to 220 pounds, about the size of a grown man. Females are smaller. Cougars have short fur that is usually sandy brown or gray, with a white belly and a black tip on the tail. Kittens are born with dark spots, but the spots fade as they grow up.

Cougars live in more places than any other land mammal in the Americas. Their range stretches from the Canadian Yukon all the way down to the southern tip of Chile. They live in mountains, forests, deserts, and swamps. One famous cougar, known as P-22, spent years living inside Griffith Park in the middle of Los Angeles, hunting deer within sight of the Hollywood sign.

Even though cougars are big cats, they do not roar. Lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards can roar because of a special bone in the throat. Cougars have a different bone, so instead they purr like a house cat. They also hiss, growl, and make a strange scream that sounds almost human. People who hear a cougar scream at night often think someone is in trouble.

Cougars are ambush hunters. They creep up close to their prey and then pounce with a huge leap. Deer are their favorite food, but they also eat elk, raccoons, rabbits, and even porcupines. A cougar can kill an animal much bigger than itself by biting the back of the neck. After a big kill, a cougar hides the body under leaves and dirt and comes back to eat from it for several days.

Cougars almost never attack people. In the last 100 years, fewer than 30 people have been killed by cougars in all of North America. You are far more likely to be struck by lightning. Still, cougars are in trouble in some places. The Florida panther, a type of cougar, is endangered, with only about 200 left in the wild. Highways, lost habitat, and shrinking prey have all hurt cougar populations. Wildlife bridges built over busy roads are now helping them move between forests and find mates again.