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Mountain Lion Facts
Wildlife
Mountain Lion Facts
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Facts:
The scientific name for a mountain lion is
Puma concolor
, which loosely translates to describe a cat with one color.
Photo courtesy of Bill Lea
The mountain lion has many common names including cougar, puma, catamount, panther and ghost cat.
Adults typically weigh 90-160 pounds with a robust tail that can be one-third as long as the cat’s body.
Mountain lions are a large cat with short tawny brown fur and a lighter white underbelly.
Animals commonly misidentified as mountain lions include coyotes, bobcats, housecats, dogs and white-tailed deer.
“Black panthers” exist only as the melanistic (black) phases of the leopard (
Panthera pardus
) in Africa and Asia, and the jaguar (
Panthera onca
) of Mexico and Central and South America.
The nearest known reproducing populations of western mountain lions are in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
In recent years, young male mountain lions dispersing from their home ranges in search of new territory have been confirmed in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri.
The presence of a lone mountain lion does not mean the area has an established population.
Report a suspected mountain lion to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife by calling the department’s Information Center during weekday working hours at 1-800-858-1549 or by emailing
info.center@ky.gov
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