No abstract

Passive and active infrared camera systems and, more recently, videography have been used in wildlife research to assist in data collection. Traditional camera systems can be expensive and labor‐intensive, and are limited in operation time by film length and battery life. Current camera systems are neither computer‐ nor network‐oriented and do not allow for near real‐time retrieval and storage of data. We describe a web‐based, digital camera system for monitoring wildlife in remote, inaccessible environments. Between February 2002 and December 2003, our web‐based camera system collected 486 digital photographs of west Texas wildlife. The key advantage of our camera system is that it allows for unobtrusive monitoring of secretive and often unobservable species in their natural habitat. Because our system is web‐based, high‐resolution photographs of wildlife can be posted on a web page for viewing, offering a unique teaching tool for grade school and university students who may not have the opportunity to visit these remote, inaccessible areas. Although our camera system was expensive ($12,000 U.S.), it offers a self‐sustaining technique for monitoring wildlife in remote regions that allows for easy data retrieval and storage.

Influential factors associated with population dynamics of mountain lions Puma concolor include exploitation rates, prey availability, habitat structure and social structure. Throughout most of North America, mountain lion harvest is regulated by state or provincial quotas or is protected by federal laws. In Texas, however, they are not classified as a game or fur-bearing animal so their harvest is not regulated. To better understand the differences between population characteristics of mountain lions in west Texas (WTX) and south Texas (STX), we initiated two ecological studies. We captured, radio-marked and monitored mountain lions to ascertain survival, mortality factors, density, reproduction and population structure. We captured and monitored 19 and 21 mountain lions in the STX and WTX study sites, respectively. Average densities (No/100 km 2 ) were different between our two study sites (STX ¼ 0.269, WTX ¼ 0.427) and were considerably lower than in previous studies. Mortality factors also differed between the two areas; in STX the causes were predominantly hunter harvest compared to trapping in WTX. Seasonal survival rates of mountain lions were lower during the general hunting season (STX¼ 0.783, WTX¼ 0.750) than during the non-hunting season (STX¼ 0.962, WTX¼ 0.931). Because population characteristics differed between the two genetically separated populations (Walker et al. 2000), resource managers should consider evaluating regional, rather than statewide management plans for mountain lions in Texas.