About Pumas
The puma (Puma concolor) — also known as the cougar, mountain lion, panther and catamount — lives in 23 countries in the Americas. Despite its wide range, the puma remains poorly understood and its numbers are thought to be declining overall. Together, we are creating a new image of pumas, one that is integral to the landscapes and ecosystems supporting human communities in the Americas. Whether through research, monitoring, education or outreach, Panthera positions coexistence between pumas and people at the center of conservation.
Our goal is that, by 2030, puma populations are increasing or stable in five key transcontinental strongholds containing different subspecies, and the species' range has expanded by 1%. This will be achieved by facilitating the deployment of proven conflict-mitigation measures in 10% of range countries, securing functional connectivity within each of the population strongholds, and supporting the development and implementation of conservation policies that reduce direct threats to puma survival.
Where Do Pumas Live?
The puma has the largest geographic range of any native terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, spanning 23 countries from southern Alaska down to the southern tip of Chile. Pumas inhabit every forest type across their range as well as montane deserts and open steppe grasslands.
Where We Work
United States: Coexistence is at the heart of the Panthera Puma Program. The Olympic Cougar Project, co-led by Panthera and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in collaboration with the Skokomish, Makah, Jamestown S'Klallam, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribes, the Quinault Indian Nation and the Washington State Department of Transportation, strives to mitigate the genetic isolation caused by the I-5 Highway on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula.
In Texas, puma mortality is among the highest in the county, yet it is the lone state without species' protection. Panthera scientists and partners have called on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to initiate regulatory changes that establish a first-ever management policy to ensure the long-term persistence of mountain lions in Texas, and to halt their potential regional disappearance in South Texas.
In the Eastern United States, we’ve published new research that pinpointed over a dozen landscapes large enough to sustain cougars indefinitely in states that border or are east of the Mississippi. Their return would most likely result in healthier forests, safer roadways, less zoonotic disease and, in turn, healthier human communities.
Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica: We work side-by-side with our jaguar researchers to install carnivore deterrents like guardian buffalo, Foxlights, scarecrows, fences and meant to save these big cats from retaliation.
We also partner with Leona Amarga and Fundación Cerro Guido Conservación to decrease human-puma conflict over livestock in Patagonia and Chile.
- Historic Puma Range
- Current Puma Range
Puma FAQs
What do pumas eat and how do they hunt?
While pumas eat a wide range of prey, they primarily eat large and medium-sized hoofed mammals, like deer and collared peccaries. Young pumas generally eat smaller prey, including American beavers, porcupines, and raccoons, as they hone their skills and grow.
What is the Florida Panther?
Pumas were eliminated from the entire eastern half of North America, except for a tiny population in Florida that was rediscovered in 1972. Today, the remnant puma population in Florida (known as the Florida panther) is endangered but recovering.
Can pumas be all black?
No. Unlike jaguars and leopards, pumas are not known to exhibit melanism (commonly referred to as “black panthers”).
What are the threats facing pumas?
In the United States, pumas are primarily threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, but they face numerous other challenges, including legal hunting, vehicle strikes and disease. In Latin America, they face the same threats, as well as significant illegal poaching and retaliatory killing by ranchers due to real and perceived attacks on livestock. Across Latin America, wide-scale decreases in wild prey availability, sometimes driven by poaching, further causes hardship for this species.
How can we save pumas?
Panthera’s Puma Program has four main goals: 1) fill knowledge gaps about pumas, including their range-wide distribution and abundance, and their ecological contributions in ecosystems, 2) address habitat fragmentation impacting the interconnectedness of puma populations, 3) reduce legal and illegal puma hunting and trapping where it threatens the integrity of puma populations, 4) reduce human-puma conflict and increase human tolerance for pumas.
