Puma / Cougar / Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) Classification

The presence of humans and large carnivores in shared landscapes presents unique challenges for wildlife conservation and management. This study explores the temporal activity patterns of tourists and pumas Puma concolor using camera traps to understand the potential for encounters between the two groups in Patagonia National Park, Chile. The park, characterized by a cold temperate climate with diverse wildlife and vegetation, spans over 304 527 hectares.

Data collected from August 2020 to March 2022 reveal distinct activity patterns for pumas and tourists, with pumas being primarily nocturnal and tourists being more active during the day. Despite a low overall overlap coefficient (Dhat = 0.27), specific periods during twilight hours showed increased interaction potential. Seasonal variations revealed a significant increase in overlap during the autumn of 2021, with stable overlap patterns observed both before and after this period.

Seasonal variations in activity patterns highlight the need for adaptive management strategies for human–puma interactions. These findings underscore the importance of enforcing park regulations, promoting responsible tourism practices, and implementing specific behavioral protocols to ensure the safety of both tourists and pumas in protected areas. This study provides valuable insights for enhancing conservation efforts in the face of increasing wildlife‐watching tourism worldwide.

Guzmán-Aguayo, Liliana & Saucedo, Cristián & Verdugo Martínez, Álvaro & Espinoza-León, Ingrid & Valenzuela-Lobos, Lorena & Olmedo, Pablo & bahamonde valenzuela, Andrea & Casanova, Julio & González, Benito. (2025). Temporal activity patterns of tourists and pumas Puma concolor in public areas in the Patagonia National Park, Chile. Wildlife Biology. 10.1002/wlb3.01396.

Anthropogenic activities have pressured and altered landscapes resulting in extinctions and extirpations. However, increased conservation efforts and changing management strategies in some large carnivores have resulted in population and range expansion. Population growth and range expansion are detectable using population genetic techniques by characterizing population structure, and clinal patterns in relatedness (isolation by distance, IBD).

Using 902 single nucleotide polymorphisms genotyped via double digestion restriction-site associated digestion from 119 cougars (Puma concolor) - both live-captured and harvested cats - in Alberta, Canada we assessed and characterized the genetic structure of this expanding population using spatially explicit and agnostic means. Each predicted and tested subpopulation (based on geographic attributes of sampling location) was characterized and mapped.

Predicted subpopulations were inconsistent and not biologically informative; additionally, no significant correlation was detected between genetic and geographic distance (IBD). In all tested and predicted subpopulations, observed heterozygosity was lower than expected.

Our findings confirm that the Albertan population of cougars has recently undergone expansion detectable from a genetic perspective (as suggested by the lower-than-expected heterozygosity). The panmictic nature of this population is unique in modern cougars and of importance for managers both of this population and of other predator species.

Barrett, K.G.
Genetic structure of a large recolonizing carnivore: the case of the northern cougars (Puma concolor)
2023 Master of Science Thesis

Retaliatory killing, motivated by depredation of domestic animals by large carnivores, has had a significant impact on wild predators' populations. In Brazil, pumas and jaguars are the most persecuted species, so it is important to analyse the spatial patterns of depredation risk of livestock. We aimed to identify the hotspots of depredation risk by these two felids in Brazil, as well as the most important variables that determine the risk at the biome scale.

We generated spatial models of livestock depredation using a database of depredation records, anthropogenic, topographic and vegetation variables, and ecological niche models. We used six algorithms to generate spatial risk models of depredation and selected those with the best performance, for inclusion in a consensus model, for each biome. Finally, we overlapped the areas of high depredation risk by both felids, so that areas considered as hotspots are those in which there is a high risk that livestock will be preyed by pumas or jaguars.

Approximately 17% of the area of the biomes analysed for puma had high depredation risk, and 18% in the case of jaguar. The hotspots encompassed 6.5% of the included biomes' area. The variables associated with the high depredation risk were different between species and biomes. Depredation risk by pumas was primarily associated with anthropogenic variables, whereas a combination of anthropogenic variables and vegetation types increased depredation risk by jaguar.

Biome-scale analysis, coupled with the availability of reliable data and the implementation of statistically robust methods, provides information specifically on the areas of highest risk and the conditions that contribute to it.

Balbuena-Serrano, A.; Zarco-Gonzalez, M.M.; Monroy-Vilchis, O.; Morato, R.G.; de Paula, R.C.
Hotspots of livestock depredation by pumas and jaguars in Brazil: a biome-scale analysis
2020 Animal Conservation: 1-13

Large carnivore monitoring is a difficult endeavor, and mountain lions (Puma concolor), with their nondescript pelage, secretive nature, and vast home ranges, are no exception. We conducted a 2-part study on a 528 km² study area in southwestern New Mexico to (1) evaluate a new technique for noninvasive collection of genetic samples and (2) obtain a density estimate for the population under study.

We modified Belisle foothold traps to collect hair from free-ranging mountain lions and obtained 7 hair samples in 1618 trap nights. All samples yielded enough DNA for species-level identification and 6 of the 7 (85.7%) provided individual genotypes. We monitored the hair traps with remote cameras, which indicated 13 occasions in which mountain lions passed within 2 m of a hair trap without triggering it. From these records, we have developed strategies to reduce misses and increase hair sample collection rates. We additionally combined photos from hair trap sets with photos from 25 independent cameras in a 100 km² subsection of the study area for use in a spatial mark-resight model augmented with GPS data from 3 collared individuals.

Our resulting density estimate was 0.67 (95% BCI: 0.31 - 1.17) mountain lions/100 km², which we believe to be negatively biased due to high heterogeneity of detection probability among marked individuals. The study area hosts long-term mountain lion monitoring, so we recommend implementing the spatial models across historical and future data sets to evaluate population trends; continued use of the hair traps will build a data bank of genotypes and promote their use in other studies.

Rossettie, T.S.
Monitoring Mountain Lions in the desert southwest: spatial density estimation and results of a novel hair sampling technique
2019 Master of Science thesis

Humans are primary drivers of declining abundances and extirpation of large carnivores worldwide. Management interventions to restore biodiversity patterns, however, include carnivore reintroductions, despite the many unresolved ecological consequences associated with such efforts.

Using multistate capture-mark-recapture models, we explored age-specific survival and cause-specific mortality rates for 134 pumas (Puma concolor) monitored in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem during gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery. We identified two top models explaining differences in puma survivorship, and our results suggested three management interventions (unsustainable puma hunting, reduction in a primary prey, and reintroduction of a dominant competitor) have unintentionally impacted puma survival.

Specifically, puma survival across age classes was lower in the 6-month hunting season than the 6-month nonhunting season; human-caused mortality rates for juveniles and adults, and predation rates on puma kittens, were higher in the hunting season. Predation on puma kittens, and starvation rates for all pumas, also increased as managers reduced elk (Cervus elaphus) abundance in the system, highlighting direct and indirect effects of competition between recovering wolves and pumas over prey.

Our results emphasize the importance of understanding the synergistic effects of existing management strategies and the recovery of large, dominant carnivores to effectively conserve subordinate, hunted carnivores in human-dominated landscapes.

Elbroch, L.M.; Marescot, L.; Quigley, H.; Craighead, D.; Wittmer, H.U.
Multiple anthropogenic interventions drive puma survival following wolf recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
2018  Ecology and Evolution (8): 1-10