Do attacks by jaguars Panthera onca and pumas Puma concolor (Carnivora: Felidae) on livestock correlate with species richness and relative abundance of wild prey?

Albert Burgas,Bernat C Lopez,Ronit Amit

doi:10.15517/rbt.v62i4.13199

Abstract

Abstract: Attacks by big cats on livestock are one of the major causes of human-felid conflicts and, therefore, an important factor in the conservation of these species. It has been argued that a reduction in natural prey abundance promotes attacks on domestic species, but few studies have tested this statement, and some have delivered contradictory results. We investigated whether the occurrence of attacks to livestock by jaguar and puma relates to the abundance and richness of their natural prey. In the rainy season 2009, we tracked potential prey species counting signs of presence along linear transects in 14 non-attacked cattle farms (control) and in 14 attacked cattle farms in NW Costa Rica. There was a negative relationship between the occurrence of attacks and both species richness (p = 0.0014) and abundance (p = 0.0012) of natural prey. Our results support the establishment of actions to promote support and recovery of natural prey, in order to diminish attacks on livestock, while maintaining jaguar and puma populations.

Highlights

Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the major causes behind biodiversity loss (Tilman et al, 2001)
Our study aims to clarify whether there is a relationship between the occurrence of attacks on cattle by these two species of big cats -jaguar and puma- and the richness and abundance of their natural potential prey species
A total of 156 animal traces were recorded from 18 potential prey species in addition to jaguar and Baird’s tapir

Summary

Introduction

Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the major causes behind biodiversity loss (Tilman et al, 2001). Palmeira (2004) in Brazil, estimated the loss attributable to jaguars as 25 865USD in six years in one big cattle farm, while 50 small farms in Northern Costa Rica recorded total cattle losses of 9 065USD, during one and a half year, when including both jaguar and puma attacks (Amit, GordilloChavez, & Bone, 2013). Despite these tangible losses in that study, perception of damage overestimated real losses, implying the relevance of social and educational factors when addressing these issues. Our hypothesis was that farms without attacks present higher richness and abundance of wild prey than farms with attacks

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