🐾 South American Puma

South American Puma

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Puma concolor concolor
• Family & relatives: It is one of several puma subspecies and shares the cat family with the jaguar, though pumas are actually closer kin to the smaller jaguarundi and the cheetah.
• How to spot it: A large, slender, plain tan cat with no spots as an adult, a small round head, and a very long heavy tail with a black tip.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Head and body reach about 1 to 1.5 meters, plus a tail of around 60 to 90 centimeters.
• Weight: Males weigh roughly 50 to 70 kilograms and females about 35 to 50 kilograms.
• Body & adaptations: Powerful hind legs and a long balancing tail make it one of nature's best leapers, and flexible ankles help it climb and descend trees easily.
• Top speed: It can sprint in short bursts up to about 70 kilometers per hour.
• Strength: One of the animal kingdom's champion jumpers, it can leap up to about 5.5 meters high and over 12 meters in a horizontal bound.
• Senses: Superb night vision and sharp hearing help it hunt in low light, backed by a keen sense of smell.
• Growing up: Spotted cubs are born blind and helpless, gain sight in about two weeks, and become independent by around one to two years old.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Extremely adaptable, it lives in rainforests, grasslands, deserts, and high mountains alike.
• Where in the world: Found across much of South America, from the Andes to the forests and pampas of the continent.
• Territory: A single puma may roam a home range of tens to hundreds of square kilometers, marking it to warn others.

What it eats

• Diet: A pure carnivore that gets most of its water from the meat it eats but will drink from streams and ponds.
• Favorite foods: It hunts deer, guanacos, capybaras, rodents, and smaller mammals and birds.
• How it hunts: A patient ambush hunter, it stalks close then rushes in a short powerful charge to pounce on its prey.

How it behaves

• How it moves: It moves with a silent stalking walk, explosive leaps, and confident climbing.
• When it is active: Mostly active at dusk, dawn, and night, resting in cover during the heat of the day.
• Family life: A solitary animal that comes together only to mate or when a mother raises her cubs.
• How it talks: It cannot roar; instead it purrs, hisses, growls, and gives eerie screams, and marks scent to communicate.
• Babies: After a gestation of about three months, the female bears two to four cubs and raises them alone for a year or more.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: As a top predator it keeps prey herds healthy; adults have few natural enemies, though jaguars and humans are threats and cubs may fall to other predators.
• Conservation: The puma species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but it faces habitat loss and conflict with ranchers in many areas.
• Dangers: Main causes of death include hunting by people, road collisions, starvation, and disease.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: It lives around 8 to 12 years in the wild and up to about 20 years in captivity.
• In our culture: Revered by Andean and other Indigenous cultures, the puma is a symbol of strength and even shaped the layout of the ancient city of Cusco.
• Where to see it: Torres del Paine National Park in Chile is world famous for puma sightings, and they roam many South American reserves.
• Fun fact: The puma holds a Guinness record as the animal with the most names, including cougar, mountain lion, panther, and catamount.