The Cougar (Puma concolor), also known as puma, mountain lion, catamount,
or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal of the Felidae family,
native to the Americas. This large, solitary cat has the greatest range
of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere,[3] extending
from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An adaptable,
generalist species, the cougar is found in every major American habitat
type. Due to persecution following the European colonization of the
Americas, and continuing human development of cougar habitat, populations
have dropped in most parts of its historical range.