Stage‐dependent puma predation on dangerous prey

Abstract

AbstractPredators likely assess their risk of injury with regards to hunting different prey types, while deciding whether to initiate an attack or to avoid dangerous prey. Risk‐taking is age‐, stage‐ and state‐dependent, and foraging theory predicts that juvenile predators, individuals of lower social rank, and less‐experienced predators that are hungry are among those most likely to engage dangerous prey. In carnivores that optimally hunt prey larger than themselves, however, juveniles may also select for smaller, suboptimal prey as they refine their hunting skills. Thus, in the case of predators that exhibit age‐specific prey selection, there may be multiple factors influencing decision‐making about prey selection. We compared puma (Puma concolor) predation on dangerous adult ungulates and safer juvenile ungulates, as well as two similar‐sized rodent species: the more dangerous North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) and the more vulnerable American beaver (Castor canadensis). We found that dispersing, subadult pumas with limited hunting experience and without territories avoided dangerous but optimally sized adult ungulates, and instead hunted dangerous, suboptimal porcupines more than resident, territorial adults. In contrast, there was no difference in puma predation on beavers between dispersers and residents. Small prey (e.g. not ungulates) formed a large portion of dispersing puma diets of both sexes, and this stage‐dependent foraging pattern might be important in describing the ecology of the species, as well as in modeling potential dispersal habitat that could see puma expansion east in North America across hostile matrices where their primary prey has been reduced through anthropogenic effects.