Cougar

The cougar is a powerfully built cat with a long, narrow body and exceptionally strong legs, with the hind legs being larger and longer than the forelegs. These hind legs are proportionally the longest of the cat family. The cougar has a very long tail, reaching one third of the cat’s total length. Paws are fairly large. The head is small, with small rounded ears and a long neck. The jaw is short and deep with powerful canines, which are slightly grooved. Colour and size vary a great deal geographically. The colour of the fur can be rufous to buff to bluish-grey along the back and sides with lighter-coloured belly, throat, chest and inner leg. It has a black-bracketed nose and a dark-tipped tail.

Measurements vary not only with location but also between the sexes. Males are generally one and a half times the size of females. Cougars in the north are larger than those further south. In the north males can be over two metres long and the smaller females just under two metres. Northern males weigh 70 kg or more, and females around 40 kg or more. It is the second largest cat in the Americas, the largest being the jaguar.

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