Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Wildlife – May 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
Colorado’s 3 wild cats
According to the reference book Mammals of Colorado, the state is home to three species of wild cats. The biggest is the mountain lion (Felis concolor hippolestes), also known as the puma, cougar, or panther.
They can be as large as 9 feet long, plus nearly a yard of tail, and weigh more than 200 pounds. Until 1965, Colorado paid a bounty on lions, but they are now protected as game animals; about 200 are killed each year by hunters.
