The kodkod Oncifelis guigna has one of the smallest distributions of wild felids, being geographically restricted to a narrow strip within Chile and Argentina. An investigation of population demography and habitat selection was carried out using trapping and radio-telemetry techniques in transitional Valdivian forest at two sites in southern Chile. The mean home-range size was estimated at 269 ha with considerable overlap of ranges and core areas giving a density of combined adults and sub-adults of 0.97/km 2 . Forest, thicket-forest, and scrub-thicket predominated in the ranges of most individuals and habitats at less than 50 m elevation were more frequently used than higher slopes. With the exception of pa Âramo and thicket, all other habitat types were used more frequently than expected by at least one of the kodkods. The study con®rmed the strong habitat association with Valdivian and Araucaria forests previously reported for this species, but also suggested a more¯exible use of habitat within home ranges and individual preferences of habitat used as core areas. Flexibility in resource use and mutual avoidance may explain why kodkod ranges overlap and populations reach high densities locally. This high degree of adaptability may well be relevant to the long-term survival of this species in an ever increasing, anthropogenically-modi®ed environment.
There is a general lack of information on the impact of forest plantations and the presence of urban settlements on populations of resource-demanding species such as large felids. To partially address this problem, a project study was conducted to find out whether mosaics of forest plantations and native vegetation can function as an adequate habitat for pumas (Puma concolor) in southern Brazil. The study was conducted within a 1255-km(2) area, managed for planted stands of Pinus spp. and Eucalyptus spp. Individual identification of pumas was carried out using a combination of track-matching analysis (discriminant analysis) and camera-trapping. Both techniques recorded closely similar numbers of individual pumas, either total (9-10 individuals) or resident (5-6 individuals). A new approach, developed during this study, was used to individualize pumas by their markings around the muzzle. The estimated density varied from 6.2 to 6.9 individuals/100 km(2), ranking among the highest across the entire puma range and indicating a potential total population of up to 87 individuals in the study site. In spite of the availability of extensive areas without human disturbance, a radio-tracked female used a core home range that included forest plantations, an urbanized village, and a two-lane paved road with regular vehicular traffic. The high density of pumas and the species' intensive use of modified landscapes are interpreted here as deriving from conditions rarely found near human settlements: mutual tolerance by pumas and humans and an adequate habitat (regardless of plantations) largely due to the inhibition of invasions and hunting and maintenance of sizable extents of native forest patches. More widely, it suggests the potential of careful management in forestry operations to provide habitat conditions for resource-demanding species such as the puma. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of curbing invasions and hunting, in this case provided by the presence of company employees, for the maintenance of wildlife populations.
Os hábitos alimentares da onça-parda, jaguatirica e outros carnívoros foram estudados na Juréia (80.000 ha), um dos maiores remanescentes de Mata Atlântica do estado de São Paulo. O estudo foi baseado na análise de fezes encontradas durante um período de amostragem de 15 meses e 415 km percorridos. A diversidade de presas encontradas nas fezes foi alta para ambos os felinos, tendo como presas mais importantes da onça-parda em freqüência de ocorrência e biomassa, o cateto e o tatu-de-rabo-mole, e marsupiais na dieta da jaguatirica. Maior freqüência de fezes de carnívoros foi encontrada distante das casas de moradores tradicionais, sugerindo um comportamento territorial evitando a proximidade da presença humana.
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