The American black bear and Cougar, Puma or Mountain lion both are predators at their respected place. Where American black bear is known as calm and silent predator, Cougar is cunning and aggressive in nature.

COUGAR VS BLACK BEAR

Both animals were found in North American mountainous regions. So what would happen If both animals will colide with each other. This is an age-old question that goes back millennia. Who would win a fight between a typical adult-sized cougar and an average adult-sized bear? A classic battle of speed, agility, and stealth VS size and brute strength.

APPEARANCE Physical appearance may slightly vary depending on geographic area. Cougars are light brown, tawny, and in a few cases, black; have spots on side of their muzzle; dark hair on the tip of their tail lighter on underparts. They have acute vision and hearing.Their ears are round and erect and move to focus on sounds.

Black bear fur is usually a uniform color except for a brown muzzle and light markings that sometimes appear on their chests. Eastern populations are usually black in color while western populations often show brown, cinnamon, and blond coloration in addition to black. Black bears with white-bluish fur are known as Kermode glacier bears and these unique color phases are only found in coastal British Columbia, Canada.

SIZE Cougars are biggest felines in the North America. They are found in the Mountainous, desert and Woode regions An adult male cougar is really dangerous opponent. He can weigh more than 100 kg in his prime and stretch over 9 feet from nose to tail. His height is not much good but it over 2.6 feet tall. On the otherside, Blackbears are the symbol of State and Strength but they are not the apex predators of their region.

These creatures are also be preys of their much bigger cousins like Brown bears and Grizzlies. But they are not that much weaker. An adult male blackbear can weigh up to 350 kg. He can reach the height of 6.7 feet if he stands on his hindlimbs and his height is about 3.4 feet tall. DIET Mountain lions eat large mammals such as deer, and smaller mammals such as mice, squirrels, porcupines, raccoons, rabbits and beavers.

American black bears are omnivorous: plants, fruits, nuts, insects, honey, salmon, small mammals and carrion. In northern regions, they eat spawning salmon. Black bears will also occasionally kill young deer or moose calves.

POPULATION There are an estimated 30,000 mountain lions in the Western United States. One mountain lion subspecies, the Florina Panther, is critically endangered with a population of less than 100 individuals. It is estimated that there are at least 600,000 Black Bears in North America. In the United States, there are estimated to be over 300,000 individuals.

However, The Louisiana Black Bear and Florida Black Bear are unique subspecies with small populations. The Louisiana Black Bear is federally listed as a threatened species and the Florida Black Bear is estimated to number 3,000.

RANGE With the exception of humans, the mountain lion has the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere. They are found from Canada to Argentina. In North America, they can be found from British Columbia and southern Alberta to California and Texas. Small populations can be found east of the Mississippi River.

The Florida panther is found in isolated populations in Florida. The American black bear is distributed throughout North America, from Canada to Mexico and in at least 40 states in the U.S. In Canada, black bears still inhabit most of their historic range except for the intensively farmed areas of the central plains.

In Mexico, black bears were thought to have inhabited the mountainous regions of the northern states but are now limited to a few remnant populations. BEHAVIOR Mountain lions are solitary animals. They are very territorial and actively avoid other cats except during courtship. Mountain lions are active hunters and may travel long distances in search of food.

They hunt alone and attack from behind, breaking the neck of their prey by biting it at the base of the skull. After killing their prey, they will bury it and leave it, coming back to feed on it when hungry. Black bears are extremely adaptable and show a great variation in habitat types, though they are primarily found in forested areas with thick ground vegetation and an abundance of fruits, nuts, and vegetation.

In the northern areas, they can be found in the tundra, and they will sometimes forage in fields or meadows. Black bears tend to be solitary animals, with the exception of mothers and cubs. The bears usually forage alone, but will tolerate each other and forage in groups if there is an abundance of food in one area.

STRENGTH Compare to other cats, cougars have small mouth opening and weaker jaws because they do not belong to genus panthera, they are more likely to cheetahs, lynxes and house cats. So, they have the bite force of 150 kg per sq.Inch but their paws and limbs are much stronger than their jaws. Where, Black bear is total a different story, because its have strong muscles wider jaws and the powerful bite force of 589 kg. Per sq.

Inch and their paws are even wider than cougar. AGILITY Cougars are known to chase the faster animals like rein deer and rabbits. Where they hunt down them in just 2 - 3 minus because of there speed is good. They have the speed of 70 kph but because he is a feline, it’s have some limits because cougar don’t have good stamina.

It become exhausted after executes some swipes and attacks. Whether Bear is really an opposite it’s have the speed of 45 kph but it can continue the fight about an hour. There is no doubt about bear’s stamina. WEAPONS Cougars have 2 inch longer canines and 30 teeth in its jaws. And their claws are also 2 inches long. Their speed of paw swipe is more than bear’s. It’s about 9 feet per sec.

Where black bear is also have the same weapons and tactics but it’s speed is less than a cougar. It’s have 2.5 inches longer canines and 42 teeth in their jaws and 4 inches longer claws. AGGRESSION Cougars are more aggressive than any other cats they are known to be risk takers when it comes to their meal or territory.

They often fights with bear in the wild but it never recorded or seen. It is true that Black bears do not use to fight with other animals when it’s not necessary but it does not mean that they are cowards. These creatures are clever and ultimate opportunist they also hunts and in everglades they also bring down mighty alligators and pythons which is even larger than cougars.

Now, most animals in the wild will avoid any conflict where they risk serious injuries if they can. So bears and mountain lions generally avoid any fights, although an adult bear will consider a mountain lion as fair prey if he’s hungry. The Black Bear does have a tough skin and can easily overpower a mature mountain lion of they want to.

But they generally won’t risk it if there’s easier prey. Mountain lions are known to hunt for bear cubs as those are nice, snack size lunch bags for these cats. Even slightly older cubs make a fine meal if there’s no mother bear in the area to protect them. But a mother bear will be extremely fierce in protecting her cubs

In my opinion, the puma has a good chance of killing a bear because black bears are not the predominant predators in their habitat. But if the puma gets over a bear with cubs, she has all the chances of her being prey.