Characterization of puma–livestock conflicts in rangelands of central Argentina

María De Las Mercedes Guerisoli,Marcello Franchini,Estela Luengos Vidal,Nicolás Caruso,Mauro Lucherini,Emma Beatriz Casanave

doi:10.1098/rsos.170852

María De Las Mercedes Guerisoli, Marcello Franchini + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170852

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Abstract

Livestock predation is one of the major causes of conflicts between humans and pumas (Puma concolor). Using data from interviews with ranchers and kill-site inspections, we characterized puma–livestock conflicts in Villarino and Patagones counties of central Argentinean rangelands. Depredation was considered the major cause of livestock losses, and puma attacks were reported in 46.6% and 35.4% of ranches in Villarino and Patagones, respectively. The majority of ranches underwent losses smaller than 1000 USD. The proportion of livestock lost to predation (0.1–10.4%) and financial losses (5.3–1560.4 USD) per ranch/year varied across ranches, and small sheep ranches in Villarino were affected the most. Depredation was recorded only at night and preferentially in grassland with shrubs and cropland habitats. Although nocturnal enclosures appeared to decrease sheep losses, puma hunting was considered the most effective form of reducing depredation and was implemented by most ranchers. Mortality rates were 3.7 and 1.1–1.56 individuals/year × 100 km2 for sheep and pumas, respectively. Nocturnal fencing, shepherding and spatial separation from predators may efficiently reduce sheep losses. However, the poor association between the intensity of puma persecution and puma-related livestock losses suggests that conflict mitigation in central Argentina is not only about reducing damage but also about increasing tolerance.

Highlights

Most large carnivores have undergone marked declines in both population size and geographical range and because of increasing encroachment with human activities, the maintenance of viable populations across much of their range depends upon mitigating conflict with humans [1]
We found that the conflict between pumas and livestock producers in central Argentina is very intense and that ranchers respond by killing pumas at alarming rates
In the context of conflict, the long-term conservation of large carnivores can only be achieved if the strategies that are developed and implemented outweigh the local costs incurred [4]

Summary

Introduction

Most large carnivores have undergone marked declines in both population size and geographical range and because of increasing encroachment with human activities, the maintenance of viable populations across much of their range depends upon mitigating conflict with humans [1]. Predicting the outcomes of carnivore–human conflicts for both components of this equation may be challenging, because it requires assessment of human responses, as well as those of the carnivores [5] This knowledge is critical because an increasing proportion of carnivore populations lives entirely within productive agricultural and ranching systems and their survival is almost completely dependent on a sustainable coexistence with humans [4,5,6,7]. Pumas (Puma concolor) are thought to perform a regulatory function in ecosystems by influencing prey and smaller predator behaviours and population abundances [8,9] In spite of this important role in ecosystems and of the fact that this felid is the wild carnivore with the largest distribution in the Americas, puma ecology in South America is still relatively understudied, especially in areas with intense human activity, where human–carnivore coexistence tends to be difficult

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