THE PUMA - CAT OF ONE COLOUR (Puma concolor)

[peter]

AN AMERICAN CAT

Although large males in Patagonia as well as Canada and the northwestern part of the US seem to be a bit larger than large male leopards, the cat of one colour didn't qualify for the Panthera family, whereas Panthera pardus did. 

The puma, largest of the small cats, is found in the Americas only. In Surinam, I saw an adult female just marginally larger than a large male ocelot, but males in Canada and Patagonia can exceed 200 pounds every now and then. Young and Goldman ('The Puma - Mysterious American Cat', 1946) concluded that pumas in Canada and the northwestern part of the US have the longest skulls, but the dentition in the Patagonians was heavier.

Remember the Patagonian sample was very limited. They could be larger than many assume. A few years ago, I saw a number of documentaries on pumas in Patagonia. The females featuring in on of these documentaries were definitely larger than those up north. Tony Hughes worked with puma's in the US. Some were as large as lionesses, he told me. Where from, I asked. Southern Argentina, he said.  


BBC-DOCUMENTARY

Yesterday, June 23, 2015, I saw 'The Natural World' on the BBC. It was dedicated to the puma and the footage was exceptional. Try to find it. Until yesterday, many thought adult puma's were solitary animals. But in Wyoming, where 15 youngsters and adults were collared, an adult male was filmed with two adult females. The male could have fathered all cubs in the study area. Males were in demand. The reason is hunting.

Here's a summary of what I remember:

- Adult pumas are not strictly solitary. At least, not in Wyoming. 

- The only adult male in the study area was seen approaching a kill made by a female with cubs. The female and the cubs were at the kill when he arrived. He made himself as small as possible and was very cautious. 

- The same male, when a female accidentally approached his kill, attacked, fought and killed her with a bite to the skull. The three 8-month old cubs didn't make it. The reason was they had not yet learned to hunt. One cub, a female, survived for 10 weeks. She died after attacking a porcupine. Quills can kill.  

- The biologist heading the study told the BBC they want to know why pumas in Wyoming are going downhill. Although the study, as far as I know, hasn't been concluded, two reasons were found. One is adult males often get shot. Two is about 80% of the cubs dies before reaching 18 months of age. Most are killed by other predators. 
 

WHY PUMA'S STRUGGLE IN WYOMING

On forums, hypothetical face-off's between animals are quite popular. For example. Male puma and male timber wolf, one on one. There is overwhelming evidence that adult puma's do ok in encounters with a single wolf, but wolves, at least in winter, live in packs. In Wyoming, they appropiate a lot of puma kills. To such an extent, that pumas are forced to hunt more often.  

In the long run, this can only result in a negative energy balance. If we add the great majority of puma cubs is killed by other predators, the conclusion is pumas struggle in temperate climate zones when faced with wolf packs, bears and large raptors.   


WHY WOLVES STRUGGLE IN EASTERN RUSSIA

A century ago, Sichote-Alin had Amur leopards, Amur tigers, bears and wolves. There were many wolves. In one region, a hunter caught 23 in a wolf trap in 6 weeks only. This was in a part of Sichote-Alin known for tigers. Sichote-Alin today still has tigers, leopards, bears and wolves. But all of them struggle to make a living and wolves are only seen in pairs or alone. What happened? 

What happened was a fifth predator. One that kills from a distance. In a century only, he decimated the others. Large ungulates also were nearly finished. The old four predators survived, but they struggle because of the limited number of prey animals.

Amur tigers compensated by hunting bears. As the number of Amur tigers is limited (about 500 in 2015) and not all adults hunt bears, the bear population wasn't seriously affected. Furthermore, bears are omnivores. This enables them to survive tough periods. The other meat specialists, however, struggle. 

Wolves are more severely affected by the limited number of large ungulates than Amur tigers. One reason is an energy deficit. It takes time to find, track and kill large ungulates. Furthermore, what they eat has to be shared with the pups. Social interaction also takes a lot of time and energy. The result is a deficit and no more packs. The second reason could be competition. Amur tigers don't kill many wolves (I only know of five cases), but wolves are on the list and they know.   

Wyoming today perhaps compares to eastern Russia a century ago. Twenty years ago, there were two large predators (puma's and bears) and plenty of large prey animals. Than a third predator (the wolf) was re-introduced. The result is the system collapsed. Of the old predators, the puma in particular was affected. The main reason is bears and wolves appropiate more kills than before, forcing the puma to hunt more often.          


FELIS CONCOLOR

To return to the cat of one colour. This thread is dedicated to the Mysterious American Cat, perhaps the most athletic of all. See what you can find and good luck. Reply