While human encounters are rare, cougars are dangerous as they are large predators that can seriously injure or kill humans. Conflicts can arise when a puma becomes too accustomed to the presence of humans, often near where we live or play, and begins to prey on livestock or other pets. Urban sprawl is reducing cougar habitat and increasing human-cougar conflict.
Habitat and Home Range • Cougars use steep ravines, rocky outcrops, boulders, or vegetation such as dense scrub and forest to hide while hunting. • Adult male cougars are widely roaming, covering a range of 50 to 150 square miles depending on the cougar’s age, season, terrain type, and prey availability. • The home ranges of adult male cougars often overlap those of three or four females.
Cougars make a living by not being seen. In areas disturbed by humans, these cats are most active at dusk and early in the morning. In low-light conditions, cougars see up to six times better than humans.
Mountain lions, also known as Cougars are opportunistic carnivores. In Utah, the mule deer makes up over 80% of the mountain lions’ diet. Cougars primarily eat large vertebrate prey. such as elk, bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ), moose ( Alces alces ) and pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ) may also be eaten.
Mountain lions, known as “pumas” and “cougars,” are large, powerful predators that have an important role in the ecosystem. Their main food source is deer, but they can also prey on smaller animals such as raccoons, rabbits, pets, and livestock. The historical range of the mountain lion was, aside from humans, the largest of any land mammal in the western hemisphere.
Sleek and elegant, cougars ( Puma concolor ) are secretive loners rarely seen in the wild. Also known as mountain lions, pumas or cougars are famous for their strength, agility, and amazing jump capacity. Their truly powerful legs allow them to leap 30 feet from a standing position or leap 15 feet straight into a cliff. A puma body strength and strong jaws enable it to trip and drag prey larger than itself.
