涉臨絕種動物-美洲獅

The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the puma or mountain lion, is a New World mammal of the Felidae family. This large, solitary cat has a vast range, extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An exceptionally adaptable species, the cougar is found every major New World habitat type. It is on average the second heaviest cat in the Americas after the jaguar and the fourth heaviest in the world, after the tiger, lion, and jaguar; the cougar is larger on average than the leopard, but is not typically counted among the "big cats" as it cannot roar and is classified in the Puma genus rather than Panthera.
Due to overhunting and continual human development of cougar habitat, populations have dropped in many parts of its historical range, although recent conservation efforts have allowed numbers to improve in some areas. However, cougar hunting is still common in the United States, and is permitted in every state from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean with the exception of California. The cougar is typically hunted with dogs that chase the animal until it climbs a tree, whereupon the hunters shoot it. State agency records show that over 30,000 cougars were killed for sport between 1996 and 2006, one of the highest totals for any decade on record
Cougar populations of the United States and Canada
Hunted almost to extinction in the United States and eastern Canada, the cougar has made a determined comeback, with an estimated 30,000 individuals in the western United States. In Canada, the cougar is found west of the prairies, in Alberta, British Columbia and southern Yukon. It is also found in smaller numbers within the Canadian Shield and river valley regions of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The densest concentration of cougars in North America is found on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, while in the United States the densest concentration is in the Ventana Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest, California.[1]
The cougar is gradually extending its range to the east, following creeks and riverbeds, and has reached Missouri, Michigan and Kansas. In Texas, the cougar is generally confined to the western ⅔ of the state. However, there have been Cougar sightings in 218 of the 254 Texas counties, with confirmed mortalities in 67 counties since 1983, an indication that it is expanding statewide to its historical range.[4] There are continuing reports of the survival of a remnant population of the eastern cougar in New Brunswick, Ontario and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec.
In the eastern United States, rumors and myths of the cougar never died, but this cat is slowly making its way from myth to reality, especially along the Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to Georgia. In this region cougar sightings are steadily increasing, and a government bounty is offered in many places for confirmed sightings. One very compelling piece of evidence surfaced in June 1997, when a Kentucky man hit and killed a cougar kitten with his truck. DNA analysis proved that the animal was descended in part from wild North American cougars, and it showed no evidence of having been someone's escaped pet
Due to urbanization in the urban-wildland interface, cougar ranges increasingly overlap with human habitation, especially in areas with a large population of deer, its natural prey. In these cases, the cougar may occasionally prey on livestock and on pets, such as dogs and cats. Cougar attacks on humans have increased since the late 1980s when cougar hunting was effectively banned in many states and the cougar populations began to climb dramatically. Even so, cougar attacks are still rare. Also there have been some sightings in Pittsburgh of a cougar and tracks

美洲獅

出自維基百科，自由嘅百科全書

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圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Puma_face.jpg/260px-Puma_face.jpg



圖片參考：http://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png
美洲獅
美洲獅，（學名：Puma concolor），係西半球分布最廣泛嘅哺乳動物之一。佢嘅英文名：puma 依個字，係嚟自印加語，意思係山獅，美洲豹咁解。





目錄[收埋]

1 分類同特徵
2 地理分布
3 食性
4 繁殖記錄
5 延伸閱讀



[編輯] 分類同特徵
美洲獅係屬於美洲金貓屬。美洲獅喺跳躍方面有驚人嘅「天賦」，佢輕輕一跳，就能夠跳到 6 至 7 米以外，厲害啲嘅更加可以跳到10幾米遠。擅於游水同爬樹。叫聲好大，但唔會咆哮（咆哮係大型貓屬嘅特徵之一），只會以嘶叫、鳥般叫聲進行 〔呢句唔似粵語，幫手改改佢〕。交配時會發出好似人類尖叫聲嘅可怕聲音。壽命可達19年。

[編輯] 地理分布
美洲獅係一種住喺北美洲、中美洲、甚至乎南美洲嘅食肉貓科動物。佢嘅適應能力好強，無論響沙漠，冰原，高山，熱帶雨林，濕地等都可以生存。一般住響寒帶同山區嘅亞種，體型會大隻啲。

[編輯] 食性
美洲獅係一種凶猛嘅食肉猛獸，亦都係噬殺成性嘅「雜食家」，主要食野生嘅兔、羊、鹿，喺肚餓嘅時候亦都會偷食家畜家禽，甚至連最難對付嘅犰狳、豪豬同臭鼬，甚至狼、熊等猛獸嘅幼仔，美洲獅亦都能夠令到佢哋束手就摛。如果美洲獅捉到嘅獵物比較多，佢哋就會將餘噃嘅食物收埋喺樹上面，等遲啲噃嚟再食。

[編輯] 繁殖記錄
妊娠期為 3 個月，一胎生 2 到 4隻。獅乸生完後第二年又可再生。幼獅出世時，身上滿佈斑點，會維持半年左右。通常一隻響春天出現嘅美洲獅，到秋天就可以食肉，到冬天就可以自己搵食。
響香港已拆卸好多年嘅荔園動物園，以前亦有養過美洲獅，佢哋都係響 80年代由日本運嚟養，分別係一雄一雌。其中獅乸咪咪，唔單止抓傷過管理員，仲曾經「逃獄」，最後要前漁農處職員用麻醉槍制服。