It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking but also lives in open areas. It is an adaptable, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. The puma (as it is called in Spanish) inhabits every mainland country in Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed large, wild, terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most widespread on planet Earth. Their range extends further south through Mexico, where they are found in nearly every state, to the Amazon Rainforest and the southern Andes Mountains in Patagonia. Its range spans the Canadian Provinces of the Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta, the Rocky Mountains, and other areas in the Western United States.
They are not technically grouped with the 'true' big cats, as they are slightly smaller than other big cats, and they lack the vocal physiology to roar (unlike lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars). The cougar ( Puma concolor) ( / ˈ k uː ɡ ər/, KOO-gər), also known as the puma, mountain lion, catamount, or panther, is a large cat native to the Americas, second in size only to the stockier jaguar.
Cougar range (without recent confirmations across northern Canadian territories, eastern U.S.
