|
Cougar Predation
|
"Using GPS and satellite technology, we have investigated 138 potential kill sites of mountain lions, revealing 104 kill sites and 5 scavenged sites. This mountain lion has returned to a feral hog it killed 3 days earlier."
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Cougar Depredation on Feral Donkeys, California
"Predation is an understudied aspect of burro ecology, Lundgren maintains. Several publications have pegged burro population growth directly to birth rates, without recording how many foals actually survive to adulthood. “Only three of 10 peer-reviewed demography studies on horses and burros mention if there are predators in the system or not,” Lundgren says. “The lack of predation is an assumption that’s carried around without anyone explicitly testing it.” In the course of the 2018 and 2019 field seasons spent monitoring Death Valley field sites in areas like Willow Canyon and Mesquite Spring, Lundgren says he has found considerable evidence of predation: around 33 burro carcasses in the riparian vegetation, half of which he characterizes as undeniable kills from mountain lions. (The other half are less conclusive, but were found in close proximity to lion scat and tracks.) Some mountain lion trails contain skeletons from two or three burros, he adds, and the dense vegetation that springs up in the groves during the growing season may be hiding more remains. While such kills might be attributable to just a few lions, Lundgren argues, they might also be a signal that the lion population is adapting to target the largest available prey in the ecosystem, which would provide a natural check on burro populations. Some studies suggest that high levels of mountain lion predation essentially negate population growth in some wild horse herds. IN ORDER FOR THIS kind of natural check on burros to work, Lundgren points out, lion populations have to be healthy. In some areas of Nevada where burro populations are skyrocketing, mountain lions are shot at a certain age to protect bighorn sheep or livestock, he adds, meaning that cubs often don’t have exposure to more challenging prey. The young and inexperienced lions that remain have a hard time going after wild burros. In addition, burro herds in the park tend to shield themselves by clustering around areas of heavy human habitation, which lions tend to avoid. All these factors make it appear as if the burros have no predators, Lundgren says, but actually point to a more complicated dynamic." https://returntofreedom.org/what-are-wild-burros-doing-to-death-valley/
Suspected predation on juvenile/sub-adult tapir:
"Here we report a case of puma consumption of a large wild prey species, the tapir, Tapirus terrestris. From March 2012 to October 2013 we collected 85 puma's scats opportunistically inside fragments of the Atlantic Forest in the Parana state, Brazil. In one of the scats we found hairs and some hooves of a tapir, as well as puma hairs. We propose two hypotheses that may explain the occurrence of tapir in a pumás scat: (1) an event of scavenging or (2) an event of predation on a juvenile tapir. The most likely explanation for this event may be the predation of a juvenile in response to a possible abundant presence of tapirs in the study area. This event adds to our understanding of the great plasticity of this species to adapt to an altered landscape. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a puma scavenging or predation event on a tapir."  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=...6000100404
Feral hog represents the main prey for certain cougars in Florida:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Source: extract from Large Mammals of the Rocky Mountains, by Jack Ballard. Hog chase:  *This image is copyright of its original author
Ingo Arndt: " Photo by @IngoArndtPhotography / The pumas in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine area can feed on a very good population of guanacos. This sequence shows a female puma hunting a chulengo (young "
Kill rates of 4 cougars in the grand canyon, one subadult and three adults:
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The main source of prey was mule deer, followed by bighorn sheep. Notice the wild horse predation as well. Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication...urity_Site
Taking down a guanaco three times it's size
 *This image is copyright of its original author By Wayajapuma
Here is a compilation between the interactions of wild horses in Patagonia and the local cougar populations. Most specifically the bagual horses of Torres del Paine national park in Chile:
From an interview with a baguales researcher:  *This image is copyright of its original author Source: https://www.cascada.travel/en/News/Footsteps-Lady-Florence-Dixie-Tracking-Baguales And piggybacking off of her claim, the survival rate for foals of this specific populations is very low at only 20%, which reaffirms that cougars are not only active and successful predators of wild horses, but they are essential in keeping their populations in check serving as a strong natural predator, so much so that this specific herd is reducing in size:  *This image is copyright of its original author Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/kiwi-trav...-patagonia  *This image is copyright of its original author Source: https://www.cascada.travel/en/News/Wild-...tor-Moraga  *This image is copyright of its original author "Aggressive in its habituated defense against the cougar" source: Desafios para la conservacion de la fauna chilena, book.  *This image is copyright of its original author Tom cougar resting in front of Patagonian wild horses it probably predates on, by Wayajapuma
Bull moose predation accounts:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Big Creek is located in Ontario so this wasn't a Shiras moose but an Eastern moose where bulls can surpass 700 kg in weight. Very impressive feat.
From the study Cougar Ecology, Predation, and Caribou in the Columbia Mountains of British Columbia:
4 different kills involving one male and one female, including adult moose cow & juvenile black bear.  *This image is copyright of its original author Kills made by male cougar Dennis which included adult and sub-adult moose of over 18 months of age:  *This image is copyright of its original author
Feeding habits of a “conflicting” carnivore in a protected area: preliminary results of the cougar diet in Los Nacional Park Glaciers, Argentina
 *This image is copyright of its original author Glaciers National park has a strong presence of feral horses and cattle and it's very likely that the high presence of cattle and horse matter in the scat is due to predation on these feral populations. Further analysis on the interaction between cougars and wild horses in the same region appear to suggest that horses are a positive in the conservation of the endangered huemul deer, as cougars focus on hunting horses thus reducing their pressure on fragile huemul populations:  *This image is copyright of its original author
|
| Users browsing this thread: |
| 3 Guest(s) |