Puma–livestock conflicts in the Americas: a review of the evidence

Guerisoli, María de Las Mercedes; Vidal, Estela Maris Luengos; Caruso, Nicolás; Giordano, Antony J.; Lucherini, Mauro

doi:10.1111/mam.12224

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(151 reference statements)

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“…In our study, Andean condors were considered more conflictive than Pumas and Jaguars, two feline species known as livestock predators for which HWC are well known and widely studied in different regions of South America [ 98 , 99 , 100 ]. Although it is possible that the conflict with these two felines is bigger than what we recorded in our study, as our interviews were not focused on mammals, interviewees that mentioned both Condor and Puma and/or Jaguar usually considered them equally conflictive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?

Salom

Suárez

Destefano

et al. 2021

Animals

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Wildlife persecution due to human-wildlife conflict has become a serious concern for biodiversity conservation, especially for many endangered species. In this context, conservation approaches need to consider the socio-ecological dimensions of each particular situation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the existence, extent and social characteristics of Human-Raptor Conflicts (HRC) in the Southern Yungas region in northwestern Argentina. We conducted 115 semi-structured interviews in 21 sites and analyzed attitudes and associations between sociodemographic variables and the existence of HRC. Forty percent of interviewees showed negative attitudes towards raptors, mainly with those species considered livestock predators rather than poultry predators. A total of 11 species were regarded as conflictive because of predation on domestic animals, of which Andean condors showed the highest conflict. The only socio-demographic factor affecting conflicts was livestock and poultry rearing, independently of age, gender and occupation of interviewees. The fact that only 8.7% of interviewees reported taking direct actions towards conflictive species indicates a relatively peaceful coexistence of people with raptors. Nevertheless, negative attitudes towards Andean condor together with their extreme susceptibility to any increase in non-natural mortality indicate the need of an integral conservation approach to tackle future threats for this species’ conservation in the area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?

Salom

Suárez

Destefano

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…These keywords were selected because they encompass the groups of animals that are commonly involved in human-wildlife conflicts (either being attacked or blamed for attacking, producing human-wildlife conflict) 14 , 33 . Moreover, these keywords are used widely to search for information about human-wildlife conflict on diverse Internet platforms, social media included 55 . The aim of this search was to find videos showing obligate scavenging birds (vultures) or mammalian predators (e.g., wolves, bears, lions) from different parts of the world interacting with live or dead livestock (e.g., eating, flying around, hunting, injuring, walking around, etc.).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framing of visual content shown on popular social media may affect viewers’ attitudes to threatened species

Ballejo

Plaza

Lambertucci

2021

Sci Rep

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Content published on social media may affect user’s attitudes toward wildlife species. We evaluated viewers’ responses to videos published on a popular social medium, focusing particularly on how the content was framed (i.e., the way an issue is conveyed to transmit a certain meaning). We analyzed videos posted on YouTube that showed vultures interacting with livestock. The videos were negatively or positively framed, and we evaluated viewers’ opinions of these birds through the comments posted. We also analyzed negatively framed videos of mammalian predators interacting with livestock, to evaluate whether comments on this content were similar to those on vultures. We found that the framing of the information influenced the tone of the comments. Videos showing farmers talking about their livestock losses were more likely to provoke negative comments than videos not including farmer testimonies. The probability of negative comments being posted on videos about vultures was higher than for mammalian predators. Finally, negatively framed videos on vultures had more views over time than positive ones. Our results call for caution in the presentation of wildlife species online, and highlight the need for regulations to prevent the spread of misinformed videos that could magnify existing human-wildlife conflicts.

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“…Despite the natural long‐range dispersal abilities of pumas (Gonzalez‐Borrajo et al, 2017 ), interstate highways limit dispersal via avoidance and direct mortality in some urban areas (Riley et al, 2014 ; Vickers et al, 2015 ). Although human‐caused mortality from vehicle collisions and lethal removal after wildlife–livestock conflicts are concerns (Guerisoli et al, 2021 ; Torres et al, 1996 ), a larger concern for long‐term population viability is the genetic isolation of pumas within small or shrinking patches of habitat, which has led to high levels of intraspecific competition and mortality (Benson et al, 2020 ) and low genetic diversity in some areas (Ernest et al, 2014 ; Gustafson et al, 2019 ; Riley et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐population puma connectivity could restore genomic diversity to at‐risk coastal populations in California

Gustafson

Gagne

Buchalski

et al. 2022

Evolutionary Applications

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Urbanization is decreasing wildlife habitat and connectivity worldwide, including for apex predators, such as the puma (Puma concolor). Puma populations along California's central and southern coastal habitats have experienced rapid fragmentation from development, leading to calls for demographic and genetic management. To address urgent conservation genomic concerns, we used double‐digest restriction‐site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing to analyze 16,285 genome‐wide single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 401 pumas sampled broadly across the state. Our analyses indicated support for 4–10 geographically nested, broad‐ to fine‐scale genetic clusters. At the broadest scale, the four genetic clusters had high genetic diversity and exhibited low linkage disequilibrium, indicating that pumas have retained genomic diversity statewide. However, multiple lines of evidence indicated substructure, including 10 finer‐scale genetic clusters, some of which exhibited fixed alleles and linkage disequilibrium. Fragmented populations along the Southern Coast and Central Coast had particularly low genetic diversity and strong linkage disequilibrium, indicating genetic drift and close inbreeding. Our results demonstrate that genetically at risk populations are typically nested within a broader‐scale group of interconnected populations that collectively retain high genetic diversity and heterogenous fixations. Thus, extant variation at the broader scale has potential to restore diversity to local populations if management actions can enhance vital gene flow and recombine locally sequestered genetic diversity. These state‐ and genome‐wide results are critically important for science‐based conservation and management practices. Our nested population genomic analysis highlights the information that can be gained from population genomic studies aiming to provide guidance for the conservation of fragmented populations.

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Puma–livestock conflicts in the Americas: a review of the evidence

Cited by 25 publications

References 99 publications

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?

Framing of visual content shown on popular social media may affect viewers’ attitudes to threatened species

Multi‐population puma connectivity could restore genomic diversity to at‐risk coastal populations in California

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