Species comparison
Puma vs Tiger
A side-by-side look at Puma concolor and Panthera tigris across body measurements, habitat, diet, behaviour and conservation status.
At a glance
- The tiger averages about 2.6 times the body mass of the puma.
- The puma has the higher recorded top speed, at 50 mph (80 km/h).
- Both species use montane forest and temperate forest.
- Their ranges do not overlap: Puma lives in North America and South America, Tiger in Asia.
- Red List categories differ: Puma is listed as Least Concern, Tiger as Endangered.
Identification
How each species is named and classified.
Puma
Puma concolor
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Puma
Puma
Tiger
Panthera
Puma
Puma lineage
Tiger
Panthera lineage
Puma
Big cats
Tiger
Big cats
Puma
Mountain lion, Cougar, Panther, Catamount
Tiger
Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, Siberian tiger
Body and movement
Published field measurements for adults. Ranges cover both sexes unless noted.
Puma
3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in (100–200 cm)
Tiger
4 ft 7 in – 9 ft 2 in (140–280 cm) Longer
Puma
24 in – 3 ft 1 in (60–95 cm)
Tiger
24 in – 3 ft 7 in (60–110 cm) Longer
Puma
24 in – 2 ft 11 in (60–90 cm)
Tiger
2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 7 in (80–110 cm) Taller
Puma
64–220 lb (29–100 kg)
Males 53–100 kg, females 29–64 kg; animals near the equator are smaller than those at high latitudes.
Tiger
165–573 lb (75–260 kg) Heavier
Sumatran females from about 75 kg; large males from mainland Asia exceed 200 kg.
Puma
50 mph (80 km/h) Faster
Short accelerations from cover rather than sustained pursuit.
Tiger
40 mph (65 km/h)
Short bursts over open ground; tigers rely on cover rather than pursuit.
Life span
Typical adult longevity. Figures for managed care come from zoo and sanctuary records.
Puma
8–13 years
Tiger
10–15 years Longer
Puma
18–21 years Longer
Tiger
16–22 years
Habitat and range
Where each species lives and the conditions it tolerates.
Puma
montane forest, temperate forest, tropical rainforest, desert, semi-arid scrub, grassland
Almost any terrain that offers stalking cover and ungulate prey, from coastal rainforest and Rocky Mountain conifer to Sonoran desert, Patagonian steppe and Andean páramo above 13,000 feet.
Tiger
tropical rainforest, mangrove, temperate forest, grassland, montane forest
Any landscape offering dense cover, water and sufficient large prey, from the Sundarbans mangroves to Russian pine and oak forest where winter temperatures fall far below freezing.
Puma
North America, South America
From British Columbia and Alberta south through the western United States, Mexico and Central America to Chile and Argentina. A small, isolated population persists in southern Florida.
Tiger
Asia
Scattered populations in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Russia and China. The species now occupies a small fraction of its historical Asian range.
Diet and behaviour
Feeding ecology, social organisation and hunting technique.
Puma
medium ungulates, small mammals, hares, birds
Deer dominate across most of the range, supplemented by elk calves, guanaco, vicuña, peccary, porcupines, hares and rodents.
Tiger
large ungulates, medium ungulates, small mammals
Sambar, chital, wild boar, gaur calves and, in the Russian Far East, red deer and roe deer. Tigers can consume very large meals and then cache and revisit a carcass for several days.
Puma
Solitary
Adults hold large, scent-marked ranges; recent GPS work shows more tolerance and even occasional food sharing between neighbours than was long assumed.
Tiger
Solitary and territorial
Adults hold exclusive ranges against the same sex, marked with scrapes, scent and scratch trees. A male's territory typically overlaps those of several females.
Puma
Crepuscular and nocturnal
Movement peaks at dawn and dusk, matching deer activity, and shifts further into the night close to roads and settlement.
Tiger
Nocturnal and crepuscular
Chiefly active at night and around dawn and dusk, though tigers in undisturbed forest and cold climates also move by day.
Puma
Stalk, pounce and cache
A puma approaches under cover, launches from short range and kills with a bite to the neck, then drags the carcass to a cache site and returns over several nights.
Tiger
Solitary stalk and short rush
Tigers approach to within a few dozen feet under cover, then attack in a single explosive rush, using body mass to unbalance prey before a throat or nape bite. Most attempts fail.
Puma
Exceptional More developed
Climbs quickly and confidently, often treeing to escape wolves or dogs and to rest above the ground.
Tiger
Limited
Cubs climb readily; heavy adults rarely do so except under duress, such as when escaping flood water or elephants.
Puma
Capable
Swims when necessary, including between coastal islands, but generally avoids water.
Tiger
Exceptional More developed
Tigers swim across wide rivers and tidal creeks, cool off in pools during hot weather, and in the Sundarbans routinely move between islands.
Conservation
Red List category, population direction and the pressures documented for each species.
Puma
LC — Least Concern
Assessed 2015
Tiger
EN — Endangered
Assessed 2022
Puma
Decreasing
Tiger
Increasing
Puma
Habitat fragmentation by roads and development, Vehicle collisions, Retaliatory killing after livestock loss, Prey depletion, Genetic isolation of small populations
Secure at the species level thanks to a huge range, but eastern North American populations were extirpated, and the Florida panther depends on active genetic and habitat management.
Tiger
Poaching for skins and body parts, Prey depletion by snaring, Habitat loss and fragmentation, Human-tiger conflict, Infrastructure development
The most recent global assessment raised the estimated population, partly through recovery in India, Nepal and Bhutan and partly through better survey coverage. Gains are uneven: several South East Asian populations have collapsed within a generation.
Notable traits
Details that do not fit neatly into a measurement table.
Puma
- The species holds one of the longest lists of English common names of any mammal, a legacy of its enormous range.
- Vertical leaps of more than fifteen feet from a standing position have been documented.
- Highway crossing structures in California and Florida were built specifically to reconnect isolated puma populations.
Tiger
- Stripe patterns are individually unique and are also present on the skin, not only on the fur.
- Tiger hearing is tuned to low frequencies, and chuffing — a soft, breathy greeting — is used at close range between familiar animals.
- A single adult may need the equivalent of a large deer every week, which is why prey density, not forest area alone, sets local carrying capacity.
Sources used for this comparison
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Global assessment categories, population trends and documented threats.
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group Species accounts, distribution notes and Cat News reporting for every wild felid.
- Panthera Field research programmes and species profiles for big and small wild cats.
- U.S. National Park Service Long-running monitoring of North American carnivores inside protected areas.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal listing status and recovery planning for cats occurring in the United States.
- World Wildlife Fund Range descriptions, threat summaries and conservation programme reporting.
- Wildlife Conservation Society Field programmes, camera-trap surveys and population monitoring.