Eastern Cougar

The eastern cougar (Felis concolor cougar) is an eastern subspecies of the cougar. It was listed on the endangered species list on June 4, 1973. Eastern cougars, like their species counterpart, both have tawny grayish brown fur. Eastern cougars surround themselves with a multitude of habitat features: trees, bluffs, and shrubs. The photograph here was taken by Jim Dutcher and is given at the http://lynx.uio.no/catfolk/ which is the home page for the Cat Specialist Group of the IUCN (World Conservation Union)

They only hunt during the nightime, and are rarely seen by the human population. The diet of the eastern cougar consists of white-tailed deer, beaver, and snowshoes. Female eastern cougars reach reproductivity at the age of 2.5-4 years. They have no breeding season and may breed at anytime of the year.

Hunting, habitat loss, and human disturbance threaten the eastern cougar population. Farmers have been known to kill eastern cougars on sight, because they have been known to kill livestock in agricultural areas. The biggest threat to the eastern cougar has been the transformation of their habitat into farming and residential land. The increases in infrastructure in the northeast have lead to an increase in access to the wilderness for deer hunting, reducing the number of prey for eastern cougars. The new infrastructure has also cut the areas of wilderness. Cougars, picky about their habitat, often leave for more remote wilderness.

 



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This page was developed by Steve Leone as a student project for Environmental Ethics, Phil 323, at the University of Arizona.
Copyright 1999, Steve Leone and the University of Arizona
Last update May 5, 1999.
Comments: Contact E. Willott: willott@u.arizona.edu
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