The recent release of video showing a puma in the wild in Uruguay has surprised experts, who say they have never seen evidence of one of the animals (Puma concolor) so far south in the country. Nighttime video of the puma was shot in June of 2016 in the municipality of Aiguá, located in the south-central department of Maldonado, by a professional wild-pig hunter. Not released publicly until now, the video is the first moving image taken of a puma anywhere in the country. Once common in Uruguay, pumas reached critically low population levels in the 20th century due to hunting by ranchers, who considered them a threat to livestock, particularly sheep. Meanwhile, rural development and fencing carved up the widely ranging animals... [Log in to read more]