Residents of La Harmonie, on the West Coast of Demerara, discovered a large cat which, they reported, was dead when it was discovered not far from their homes in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The animal measured approximately five feet, and was estimated to weight some 150 pounds.
The discovery of the animal caused panic among the residents, as the area where the animal was discovered is along a path that children commonly use to go to and from school.
Judging from the look of the carcass, the animal seems to be a cougar (also called a puma, mountain lion, or panther). Despite its large size, the cougar is not usually classified as a ‘big cat.’ Cougars have been terms ‘the biggest of the small cats.’
A cougar will eat any animal it can catch, from insects to large ungulates. Like all cats, it is an obligate carnivore, feeding only on meat. In Guyana, cougars eat small to mid-size mammals, including large rodents such as the capybara (labba).
The World Conservation Union currently listed the cougar as a “near threatened” species. Despite this, in Guyana, cougars have no legal protection. In 1996, cougar hunting was prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and Uruguay.