Pumas Have Established Movement Corridors Across a Large Area of Colombia

In the early hours of a morning at the beginning of July, camera traps installed in the La Romera Nature Reserve, in Sabaneta, Antioquia, captured the passage of a puma. The municipal government of that town in the so-called Aburra Valley celebrated it as evidence of the biological richness of the territory and as proof that the biological corridors in that region, where Medellin is also located, continue to allow the movement of this feline species, which, according to experts, is an indicator of the good health of the ecosystems.

One year ago, the Humboldt Institute, affiliated with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and dedicated to researching biodiversity and the relationship between biodiversity and human well-being, stated that the geographic range of the puma is the widest of any terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. It extends from Canada, through the United States, Central America, and South America, to the southern tip of Chile.

The Presence of Pumas, a Source of Pride

In Colombia, where it is known by names such as mountain lion, lion, or panther, it naturally inhabits forests, mountains, and rural areas, including zones close to urban centers when they are surrounded by forests. That is why the most recent sighting occurred in Sabaneta.

The Humboldt Institute recalls, citing experts, that the puma does not represent a direct threat to people unless it is cornered or provoked. What people should do is avoid approaching it, taking photographs of it, or trying to scare it away.

And as Sabaneta understood, the Humboldt Institute highlighted what its researchers point out: “The presence of this animal should be a source of pride for the community, since it demonstrates the natural and wild richness of the territory, as well as a valuable biodiversity that deserves to be protected.”

Fortunately, the sightings are neither new nor isolated. The newspaper El Colombiano recalls that in 2023, the same camera traps had recorded, for the first time in the municipality of Sabaneta, a pair of pumas (Puma concolor) walking together through the reserve.

The same newspaper reports that several months later, municipal forest rangers managed to see the puma directly during a patrol, marking a milestone: “Until that moment, all records had come exclusively through camera traps. It is believed that at least three more live nearby in a territory that extends far beyond what any political map could define,” it says.

Near Urban Areas in Search of Resources

It adds that the puma is, in biological terms, a solitary animal. It does not form packs or groups and is accompanied only during courtship and mating.

Then, for one or two years, the mother raises her cubs—usually one or two—before they also leave to seek their own territory. Males generally occupy larger territories that overlap with those of several females. Females, on the other hand, do not share their space with other females; they distribute themselves.

In its constant search for prey, the puma travels through forests and shrublands, rural areas where it coexists with farms, pastures, and, occasionally, chicken coops, the Antioquia newspaper reports, citing biologist Felipe Galvis Bravo of Corantioquia.

The expert explained that the puma’s diet is among the most versatile in the animal kingdom, since it feeds on deer, peccaries, agoutis, armadillos, rabbits, opossums, and some birds, depending on what is available in the ecosystem it inhabits.

Its proximity to urban areas is explained by the need for three resources, according to Diaz: a habitat with forest cover that serves as a safe resting place, hunting corridors with sufficient wild prey, and edge zones—those borders where the forest meets open areas, ideal for stalking.

The Humboldt Institute adds another determining factor: altitude. The ecosystems where the presence of the puma has been recorded in the southern Aburra Valley and southwestern Antioquia range between 1,800 and 2,600 meters above sea level, precisely within the altitudinal range where the species moves comfortably.