The Cougar:

The cougar is a large cat native to Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, Central America and some parts of South America. It is the largest cat in North and South America.\line The cougar ranges from 6 to 8 1/2 feet (its tail accounts for 1/3 of its total body length) and can weight as much as 175 pounds. The cougar's fur is short and its color ranges from gray to reddish brown. The cougar's canine teeth can get as long as 1 1/2 inches. The cougar has a small head and a short snout.

The cougar has many names such as the Cougar, Puma, Mountain Lion, Catamount and Felis concolor, which is Latin for "cat of all one color".

Cougars rarely attack humans unless they are sick, have kittens with them, have food, or are spooked.

Kittens:

The female cougar gives birth to 3 to 4 kittens at any time of the year. When the kittens are born, they weight only about 400 g and are about 300 mm long. The gestation for the kittens is around 90 to 96 days. Females usually reach sexual maturity in around 2 years and males mature at abo ut 3 years.

Food:

Cougars mainly feed on deer, elk, moose and caribou, but, in the winter those animals migrate and the cougar must feed on rabbits, mice, lynx, bobcat, beaver, muskrat, duck, etc....

Habitat:

The habitat that cougars live in can range from mountains to deserts. Cougars live in the Rockies of Canada and the U.S.A., in the Andes of South America, in the desert of Mexico and in the jungles of Central and South America.

Why Are They Endangered?

Cougars are endangered beca use over 2,100 cougars are shot every year in the U.S.A. and Canada. For every female cougar shot, about 3 to 4 kittens die too, because they can't survive on their own.

There are five names for it: Puma, Mountain Lion, because some live in the mountains of North and South America, Cougar, Catamount, and Painter.

It is the second largest cat in the Western Hemisphere next to the Jaguar.

There are cults in South America with the puma as the totem object.

Medicine men in the tribes of South America use puma bones to ward off death. Pumas have a strange habit of burying unfinished food and then coming back the next day to finish it off.

SIZES: Length from nose to tail: 6 to 7 feet . Weight: 75 to 220 lbs

BREEDING: Sexual maturity: 2\'bd-3 years. Mating season: Depends on where they live. Gestation: 85-95 days. Number of young: 2 to 4 kittens

LIFESTYLE Habit: Solitary with a territory.

Diet: Mainly deer and elk.

Lifespan: 18 years.

RANGE: Everywhere in South America except the VERY west coast, and in North America, except New York and above and the extreme north of Canada. It is an obscure line and hard to explain...

I got the information from: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website. http://www.wwfcanada.org/