Description of Puma

The mountain lion is also known as the cougar, puma, panther, and catamount, and is the largest wild cat in North America. Its fur is beige and it has a white belly. Young mountain lions have spots, but adults do not. Mountain lions have powerful limbs and can leap as high as 15 feet and as far as 40 feet. It weighs between 65-180 pounds, depending on if it is female or male, and what part of the world it is located in. They can grow up to 6 feet in length.

There are many different subspecies of pumas in North & South America. Pumas once boasted the most extensive range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. From the southern tip of Chile to as far north as the Yukon, pumas once inhabited both North and South America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At this time, the only documented eastern pumas in the wild exist in south Florida where they are known as the Florida Panther. The remaining documented eastern pumas are found in sanctuaries and captive breeding facilities (http://www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org)

What its Threats are

Pumas are constantly threatened by uncontolled hunting, trapping and habitat destruction. Many farmers see them as a threat to their livestock.

Why it Should be Protected

Pumas can survive in various environments such as mountain forests, grasslands, swamps, and seacoasts. They can also adapt to extreme temperature changes. They eat beaver, porcupine, bobcat, rabbit, raccoon, opossum and white tailed deer. If pumas aren't preying on these animals this can serve as a serious problem. Without sufficient predators such as the puma, specie overpopulation is becoming a serious problem in many eastern states. History has shown that without enough predators in an ecosystem, those species whose numbers have not been controlled may suffer starvation and become vulnerable to diseases which could threaten the entire population and ultimately destroy the ecosystem (www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org)

What Efforts are Being Done to Protect it

Legal Status/Protection http://www.fws.gov/Endangered/
Endangered Species Act (three subspecies of the mountain lion are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act: Florida panther, Costa Rican puma, and Eastern puma).

-The Endangered Species Act requires the US federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren. (www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/mountain_lion)
-Conservation groups such as the Appalachian Restoration Campaign, the Nature Conservancy, and the Conservation Fund are working to ensure the preservation of appropriate habitats and corridors throughout the eastern U.S. (http://www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org/)

How Scientists Study it in the World

Pumas are hard to study because they are primarily nocturnal, they are most active one hour before sunset to two hours before sunrise. This combined with their elusive nature makes proving they exist almost impossible. Many scientists use the capture–mark–recapture population models to estimate the density of pumas for each area.

Despite numerous sightings over the years, only a dozen were accompanied by sufficient field evidence to be confirmed by biologists. To confirm a sighting, evidence in the form of a live or dead animal, body part(s), scat, hair samples, tracks preserved in plaster, or video/photos is needed.(www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org)