Catch up with a cougar

You’ve tested your ticker on our tigers, now it’s time to come face to face with a new kind of feline fear. Known as the Ghost of the Wilderness, you have to be pretty lucky or unlucky to come across a cougar in the wild.

But at Dreamworld, you can come within a whisker of one of nature’s most elusive creatures with our daily cougar presentations, held at Tiger Island.

More than a dozen years ago, three week old sisters Inca and Sierra arrived at Dreamworld, covered in spots and full of mischief. A leopard can’t change his spots but a cougar can! Inca and Sierra lost their kitten characteristics gaining a grace and agility second to none.

Also known as mountain lions, pumas, panthers and screamers, the sassy sisters are now stealing the limelight from their stripy feline friends every afternoon at Tiger Island.

And if you have seen the daunting duo on their daily 4.00pm presentation, you can now sit just metres from the cats for biology lesson filled with bite. Our handlers present the fascinating facts on these cagey cats and give guests a taste of the power of a puma.

Interesting Fast Facts
• Inca and Sierra have very distinct personalities; Sierra is flighty, shy and always on the move. Inca is robust, more confident and fascinated by The Giant Drop
• The cougar is the biggest of the small cats with a claw that has the diameter of a 20 cent piece
• Cougars can purr but not roar due to the structure of their vocal chords and make a calling sound known as chirping to greet other cougars and handlers
• Cougars also make a terrifying, elongated ear piercing scream
• Have a round pupil which is more like a tiger’s eye than a domestic cat
• Extremely agile, can climb trees up to 100 feet and jump 8 metres with ease
• Cougars are very affectionate but are solitary in nature and extremely elusive
• Cougars are skilled night hunters with excellent eyesight and superb hearing.
• Cougars are carnivores who like to stalk their prey at close range.
• Cougars breed every 2-3 years having an average litter of 2-3 offspring at a time.
• Cougars weigh 500 grams at birth, adult females weigh 30-50kg and Males, 50-75kg
• Have been known to attack humans
• Cougars live 9-10 years in the wild and to their late teens in captivity
• Found in the wild from Canada to South America with a wild population estimated at less than 25,000
• Currently there are seven cougars in Australian zoos, two at Dreamworld.
• In many states of the USA, cougars have been hunted for bounties but this has been mostly outlawed in recent years.

Dreamworld is open from 10am to 5pm every day except Christmas Day and Anzac Day morning. For online tickets and details visit www.dreamworld.com.au.