A large cat of the Americas, with a slender body, a long tail and a tawny to greyish-brown adult coat.
The throat and chest are pale, while the tail tip and backs of the ears are black.
How do pumas move where homes spread into the foothills? In Colorado’s northern Front Range, researchers studied GPS data from 76 collared pumas between 2007 and 2015. In the most densely housed areas, 83% of recorded puma use occurred at night, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Pumas generally avoided these built-up areas, yet some used them, mostly at night. The researchers suggested that the cats shifted their activity to times with less human activity.
Some conflict behavior was reported for 24% of monitored pumas. At feeding sites investigators checked, 39% of sampled pumas had eaten domestic prey. In this patchwork of open land and neighborhoods, the timing and individual behavior of pumas shaped how they used the landscape.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The puma’s global IUCN Red List category is Least Concern (LC). Its assessment was completed on 17 April 2014 and published in 2015; the assessment records a decreasing wild population trend. The IUCN Cat Specialist Group identifies habitat loss and fragmentation, and human persecution, as major threats. Its profile distinguishes the Florida panther as an Endangered population in North America.