Cougars (Mountain Lions) have the largest geographical range of any terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Historically, they were found as far north as British Columbia, through North and Central America, and all the way down to the southern tip of Chile. 

Female cougars will typically stay in one particular home range while the males’ territories will shift and often overlap with the range of one or more females. These cats will live their entire lives in these home areas unless they are chased out by a competing puma. In some areas, a female cougar will establish a home range next to or partially overlapping her mother’s territory. Females normally will not breed until they have established a territory.

Despite popular belief, cougars rarely pose a threat to humans. From 1890 to 1989, there have only been eleven documented deaths by cougars throughout the United States and Canada. In 80% of all of those attacks, the cougar was either underweight or sick.