North american cougars

[Gloria]

Jack's thread about the wolf deaths attributed to cougars got me looking at how this would be. Found this site with lots of info on big predators and their importance to an areas biodiversity.


Cougar Biology & Behavior — Grizzly Bear Outreach Project

Because they are neither excellent sprinters nor long-distance runners, cougars rely on stealth and surprise when hunting prey. They may conceal themselves for hours waiting for an opportune moment to pounce. Cougars kill larger prey by jumping on their back and locking their powerful jaws around the throat. After making a kill, cougars will drag their prey to a secluded area where they can feed undisturbed.

The cougars extensive distribution throughout the Americas, its adaptability to a wide array of habitats, and its superior predatory ability may afford it a more important ecological role than any other top predator in the western hemisphere
Studies in North America have also linked cougar disappearance to ecosystem decline and biodiversity loss. In the eastern U.S., John McShea and his colleagues have determined that the historical elimination of cougars and gray wolves led to an overabundance of white-tailed deer populations that have degraded native forests and caused the decline of many bird species

http://bearinfo.org/cougars/cougar-safety/