Abstract
Wildlife-human conflicts occur wherever large carnivores overlap human inhabited areas. Conflict mitigation can be facilitated by understanding long-term dynamics and examining sex-structured conflict patterns. Predicting areas with high probability of conflict helps focus management strategies in order to proactively decrease carnivore mortality. We investigated the importance of cougar (Puma concolor) habitat, human landscape characteristics and the combination of habitat and human features on the temporal and spatial patterns of cougar-human conflicts in British Columbia. Conflicts (n = 1,727; 1978–2007) involved similar numbers of male and female cougars with conflict rate decreasing over the past decade. Conflicts were concentrated within the southern part of the province with the most conflicts per unit area occurring on Vancouver Island. For both sexes, the most supported spatial models for the most recent (1998–2007) conflicts contained both human and habitat variables. Conflicts were more likely to occur close to roads, at intermediate elevations and far from the northern edge of the cougar distribution range in British Columbia. Male cougar conflicts were more likely to occur in areas of intermediate human density. Unlike cougar conflicts in other regions, cattle density was not a significant predictor of conflict location. With human populations expanding, conflicts are expected to increase. Conservation tools, such as the maps predicting conflict hotspots from this study, can help focus management efforts to decrease carnivore-human conflict.
Highlights
Conflict between humans and wildlife is a widespread issue of concern in conservation of carnivores [1] [2]
Study area The study area encompasses cougar range in British Columbia, which coincides with the provincial extent excluding the extreme northern section of the province and most of the Pacific islands
A total of 1,727 conflicts involving cougars of known sex were recorded by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment over the thirty-year study period
Summary
Conflict between humans and wildlife is a widespread issue of concern in conservation of carnivores [1] [2]. Understanding processes associated with temporal and spatial patterns of carnivore-human conflicts is essential to management planning [1]. Data on carnivore occurrence and human-caused mortality can be combined into habitat-based models that enable delineation of attractive sink-like habitats [4] [5]. A more complex and rigurous approach is to develop predictive models for the spatial distribution of human-caused carnivore mortalities [7]. Models such as those developed in [8] are useful tools for identifying hotposts of livestock depredation by carnivores
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