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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing cougars. This channel will give you something to purr about, be sure to subscribe; and thank you to arlo crookston for today’s request. Cougars have many names including mountain lions, catamounts, and pumas. They’re also often referred to as panthers, though this isn’t technically accurate because panthers are the big cats from the Panthera genus - which cougars are not a part of. Cougars may be referred to as black panthers, as well, but that’s actually doubly inaccurate because not only are they not panthers, they have also never been documented appearing black in color. Still, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t numerous claims of black cougars stalking America forests, so they may exist!

Cougars once had a much broader range of distribution, but even today they are some of the most widespread mammals in the Americas ranging from Canada all the way down and throughout South America. Previously they could be found all across the United States, but now they’re more confined to the West coast. In the eastern United States, they only occur in their dwindling Florida habitat. Here, they are considered endangered, and because they’ve been cut off from other members of their species, their genetics have bottlenecked - similar to the cheetahs we’ve previously discussed. Plus, just like cheetahs, cougars can’t roar! Hmm… and considering cheetahs once lived in North America there are quite a few similarities between these kitties...

In the past, cougars could be found in just about every terrain type, but today they live mostly in mountainous areas away from people - though they haven been found in urban settings. These large felines generally avoid people, but do sometimes take human life. Because of this and their habit of occasionally killing livestock, cougars have been persecuted by humans as a type of vermin. When they aren’t munching on ranchers’ cows, cougars eat other large ungulates such as bighorn sheep, deer, and sometimes even moose! In doing so, the cougars help to control populations of these animals. They may also eat armadillos, rabbits, wombats, skunks, and other smaller prey items if chances arise.

Cougars themselves are generally top predators but, especially when young, they may be taken by bears, wolves, leopards, and each other. This is why mothers keep their babies in a secluded den until they’re a few weeks old. Females exclusively take care of the young. The males usually have larger territories that overlap with a few females with which he will breed. Breeding can occur year round, but in northern areas happens in the winter so babies can be born in late spring or early summer. The mother cougars will gestate for about 90 days, and the babies will stay with her for upwards of two years learning how to be the best cougars they can be. In the wild they may live to be twenty years old, though ten is a closer average.

Other cats are often misidentified as cougars including housecats, lynnxs, and bobcats, but cougars can be distinguished because of their long, cylindrical tails and their large sizes. They average seven feet (2.1 meters) in length, and their tails alone are longer than the average housecat. They also weigh about 130 pounds (60kg), though males are much larger than females, sometimes nearly doubling their size! If you think you can keep your cats straight, test your skills with the quiz we’ve linked in the description. Let us know how you do in the comments below!

For more facts on cougars, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.