Human–carnivore competition for antlered ungulates: do pumas select for bulls and bucks?

Abstract

Context Many institutions of wildlife management and their hunting constituents tend to value ungulates over large carnivores, in part due to financial incentives associated with ungulate hunting over carnivore hunting. This system benefits from mythology that presents large carnivores as competitors for antlered male ungulates most prized by the hunting community. Aims We explored puma (Puma concolor) foraging and prey selection in two study areas in the Rocky Mountains, USA, to test whether pumas were competing with human hunters for antlered elk (Cervus elaphus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Methods We employed GPS technology to track pumas and document their prey. We measured population- and individual-level selection by comparing prey killed by pumas to two estimates of prey availability: (1) landscape-level as determined by annual agency game counts; and (2) total prey killed by marked pumas. Key results Pumas in both study systems killed small numbers of antlered elk and mule deer. Pumas exhibited avoidance of mature elk, instead strongly selecting for elk calves over any other age or sex class. Pumas in both systems also selected for mule deer fawns; however, they also exhibited small positive selection (Jacob’s index of 0.08 in CO and 0.11 in WY on a scale of 0.0–1.0) for antlered mule deer. Conclusions In terms of numbers killed, pumas were not a competitor with human hunters for either antlered species. In terms of prey selection, pumas showed that they may be greater competition for rare antlered mule deer but not for antlered elk. In both study sites, antlered elk and deer remained at levels at which they could perform their ecological functions. Implications Our results highlight the fact that the overhunting of large carnivores over competition for antlered ungulates is mostly unfounded; we should instead focus management, media attention and conservation science on disentangling the complex ecology driving localised declines of mule deer, elk and other important ungulate resources, many of which are anthropogenic in nature and can be addressed.