Puma concolor

Appearance:  Cougars are known by many names including panther, puma, and mountain lion.  Cougars are large, powerful tan cats with long tails.  They are white underneath with faint black markings on the tips of the ears, tail, and snout.  Swift runners, agile climbers, and great swimmers with agile bodies, cougars are a top predator.  They are solitary night hunters that have excellent eyesight and superb hearing.  

Range: Once found throughout much of North America, cougars are now absent from most of their natural range.  The cougar population declined due to habitat destruction, decrease of their main food supply, and uncontrolled hunting and trapping.  Still fairly abundant in some of the sparsely populated western states, the only known cougar population still found in eastern North America is the Florida panther.  It is thought that the eastern cougar, the breed native to the Southern Appalachian region, is now extinct.

Diet: They eat primarily white-tailed deer, but also enjoy smaller game such as opossums, raccoons, rodents, and rabbits.  Cougars prefer stalking their prey closely, utilizing the element of surprise.  Strong jaws and long canine teeth make it possible for them to kill their prey with one bite.

Hayla and Noa

Date of Birth: Summer 2023

Hayla and Noa were found alone near White Salmon, Washington. Since cougar cubs stay with their mother for up to two years learning to hunt and survive, they never learned critical survival skills or proper fear of humans. Deemed as suitable ambassadors for their species, they now call the WNC Nature Center home.

The female Hayla is named for the Nantahala River, and the male Noa is named for the Swannanoa River.