Though they choose to inhabit those areas, they are highly adaptive and can be found in a large variety of habitats, including forests, tropical jungle, grasslands, and even arid desert regions.

Adult males can reach around 7.9 feet (2.4 m) from nose to tip of tail, and a body weight typically between 115 and 220 pounds (52 and 100 kg).

The majority of pumas are found in more mountainous regions, so they have a thick fur coat to help retain body heat during freezing winters.

Depending on subspecies and the location of their habitat, the puma's fur varies in color from brown-yellow to grey-red.

Pumas are incredibly strong and fast predators with long bodies and powerful short legs.

They can reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), as they are adapted to perform powerful sprints in order to catch their prey.

[8] Breeding season normally occurs between December and March, with a three-month (91 days) gestation period resulting in a litter size up to six kittens.

[8] Although they have been pushed into smaller habitats by human settlement expansion, members of the genus have been designated least-concern species by the IUCN, indicating low risk of becoming extinct in their natural environments in the near future.

[8] However, in many large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, California, pumas' habitats have been fragmented by urban development and massive freeways.

This poses a threat to these already-reduced communities of mountain lions that are forced to adapt quickly to ever-shrinking habitats and increasingly frequent run-ins with humans.