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Cougar

Puma concolor

The cougar (Puma concolor), also called the puma, mountain lion, or (regionally) panther, is a large New World cat with one of the widest distributions of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, ranging from southeastern Alaska through much of the Americas to southern Argentina and Chile, and occupying diverse habitats from forests and swamps to desert scrub and montane grasslands. Cougars are typically solitary and are often most active around dawn and dusk. They are primarily ambush predators that feed mainly on deer and other hoofed mammals, but also hunt smaller prey and sometimes livestock. The species is listed as Least Concern, but some regional populations are much more vulnerable; in the United States, the remnant Florida panther population is listed as Endangered. Despite the common name “mountain lion,” cougars are not “roaring” big cats like lions and tigers—they can purr but generally cannot roar.

The cougar (Puma concolor), also called the puma, mountain lion, or (regionally) panther, is a large New World cat with one of the widest distributions of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, ranging from southeastern Alaska through much of the Americas to southern Argentina and Chile, and occupying diverse habitats from forests and swamps to desert scrub and montane grasslands. Cougars are typically solitary and are often most active around dawn and dusk. They are primarily ambush predators that feed mainly on deer and other hoofed mammals, but also hunt smaller prey and sometimes livestock. The species is listed as Least Concern, but some regional populations are much more vulnerable; in the United States, the remnant Florida panther population is listed as Endangered. Despite the common name “mountain lion,” cougars are not “roaring” big cats like lions and tigers—they can purr but generally cannot roar.