Puma - Cat 2 of 3 of the Puma family of cats

The second cat in the Puma family of cats we’ll cover is the Puma (Puma concolor) also known as the Cougar or Mountain Lion.

The adaptable Puma is also called the Cougar, Mountain Lion, Panther and many other names. It is known as the wild cat with the most number of common names.

Pumas are widespread from Canada through North and Central America to South America, but have disappeared from many regions within this vast range due to persecution.

Here are some interesting articles about this amazing cat’s ecology and how it contributes to maintaining healthy ecosystems as an apex predator:

(Images are copyright the original articles)

Pumas as Ecological Agents

A review on Puma interactions with other species found relationships with a total of 485 other species:

203 species as Puma prey
281 species that feed on their prey
12 species as competitors

Other ecosystem services were also discovered.

Article: Puma Power by Defenders of Wildlife Magazine

Puma Research - Ecology — Locations of research on the puma Puma concolor included in our review, and the current and historical (pre-European settlement) geographic range of the species in North and South America. Each of the 162 studies is assigned to one of the five interaction categories we defined (11 studies were assigned to two categories).

Using Facial Recognition to Count Cougars

Cougars have no unique patterns on their coats that can be used to identify individuals. However they do have marked facial features.

Using a recorded kitten call that caused the cats to turn and look at the trail camera, facial shots were collected.

Podcast: How AI Facial Recognition Is Helping Conserve Pumas by Ashleigh Papp Scientific American

Puma Research - Camera Trap Methods — Camera trap photos of pumas taken in northwest Wyoming 2017–2020, using a novel method designed to capture pumas front-on for facial-ID. The photos are arranged by individual identity, with each row corresponding to an ID that had 100% agreement between five independent raters assigning photo-ID to the image set.

Donkeys and Mountain Lions Replicate Ancient Interactions

Recent research with camera traps has revealed mountain lion predation on wild donkeys. This suggests that the cats have taken the place of the ancient predators that once hunted ancient equids.

Focusing on desert wetlands the study investigated differences between sites with and without mountain lion predation.

Article: Introduced donkeys and indigenous pumas are helping to resurrect extinct food webs in Death Valley by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County