Cougar An Endangered Mammal By Ashirah Grade 5 Grade 5 • January 30, 2014
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Table of Contents Introduction!
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Names!
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Description!
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Habitat!
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Range and Population!
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Threats!
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Solutions!
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Conclusion!
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Bibliography!
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Introduction As you walk through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, everything is still. All of a sudden a dark figure appears. You start to shiver, wondering what it is. Then it comes into the light. You realize it’s the cougar.
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Names The cougar has many names. Its most common name is the cougar. Mountain lion, puma, panther and painter are other names that people call them. The scientific name of the Cougar is Puma Concolor, which means “puma of one color.�
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Description Mating season for cougars is throughout the year with a peak of winter and spring. They have one to six cubs. A female cougar has a litter of cubs every two to three years. Cougar cubs are born in dens. After the cubs are born the male cougar leaves and does not help take care of the cubs. Cougar usually live 10-15 years. They are independent around two years old. Cougars have short thick fur. They have markings. They have a brown or black tip on their tail. And on their short round ears they have black markings in the back side. Cougars usually grow seven to nine feet long from the tips of their tail to their noses. They stand two to three feet tall. Most Cougars weigh seventy to five to hundred pounds. The color range of the Cougar is golden tan to dark brown. Their coat can also be silver or red.
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Habitat
They live in mountains, deserts, grasslands, forests, and swamps. Cougars have a wide range for many different kinds of habitat. They can survive any habitat.
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Range and Population Cougars are native to Mexico, the United States of America, Central America, Canada, and some parts of South America. Three of the over 20 subspecies of the cougar are endangered: Florida Panther, Costa Rican Puma, and the eastern Puma.
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Threats http://www.cougarnet.org/UCFP74b.jpg
There are about 70-100 Florida panthers left. In 1973 the Florida panther was first listed as an endangered spices. When that happened scientists were not sure if the Florida panther, a subspecies of the North American cougar, was already extinct. Humans are a big threat to cougars. People were worried that cougars would kill all the good game and there wouldn’t be any left for the people. So the government paid hunters five dollars for every cougar that they killed. In the 1800’s hunters killed many deer, and there were none left for the cougars and they starved for a while. http://www.cougarnet.org/UCFP74b.jpg Loss of habitat is also a big threat to cougars. Housing and highway, logging, drainage, and oil field activity are some reasons for cougar habitat loss. Some male cougars have been feminized due to chemical exposure. Feminized males are less likely to reproduce. That means that there is a lot
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pollution and little rodents like rats and mice eat things that have chemicals on them and cougars eat mice and rats. So the cougar eats the chemicals and the male cougar isn’t able to mate. Chemical compounds that cause these abnormalities include herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.
Solutions What can we do to help save this animal? Well, we can start by helping protect the forests that cougars live in. By protecting habitat we help them survive. Also giving them lots of space is important. 240 cougars would require 8000-1200 square miles to avoid inbreeding. http://www.wallpaperstop.co/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Mountain-
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Conclusion !
I hope that we can help save these big beautiful harmless cats from extinction because they are
really something. And if you think that cougars should be extinct, then you are wrong because Cougars, Florida Panthers, and Pumas should all deserve to stay in this world.
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Bibliography Caper, William. Florida Panther: Struggle for Survival. New York: Bearport Publishing, 2008. Print. America's Animal Comeback. "Florida Panther." Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. <http://eol.org/pages/10465959/overview>. "Florida Panther." Defenders of Wild Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. <http://www.defenders.org/florida-panther/basic-facts>. Somervill, Barbara A. Florida Panther. Ann Arbor: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2009. Print. Road to Recovery. Welsbacher, Anne. Cougars. Mankato: Capstone Press, 2003. Print. Predators in the Wild.
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