Puma  (Puma concolor)

Range

Widespread, ranging from areas in Canada, down through the United States, south to Central and South America. However, the species’ range has greatly retracted, having been eliminated from the almost the entire eastern half of Northern America following European colonisation (1).

View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Habitat

The puma is highly adaptable, found in a diverse range of habitats, from arid desert to tropical rainforest to cold coniferous forest, from sea level up to 5,800 metres in the Andes (3) (5). Studies have shown that habitat with dense understorey vegetation is preferred, but these cats can also live in open areas with sparse vegetative cover (3). Although terrestrial, pumas can swim and climb trees when they need to (5).

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