Characterization of puma–livestock conflicts in rangelands of central Argentina

GUERISOLI, MARÍA DE LAS MERCEDES; LUENGOS VIDAL, ESTELA; FRANCHINI, MARCELLO; CARUSO, NICOLÁS; CASANAVE, EMMA BEATRIZ; LUCHERINI, MAURO

Royal Society Open Science

Royal Society publishing

Año: 2017 vol. 4

Livestock predation is one of the major causes of conflictsbetween humans and pumas (Puma concolor). Using datafrom interviews with ranchers and kill-site inspections,we characterized puma?livestock conflicts in Villarino andPatagones counties of central Argentinean rangelands.Depredation was considered the major cause of livestocklosses, and puma attacks were reported in 46.6% and35.4% of ranches in Villarino and Patagones, respectively.The majority of ranches underwent losses smaller than1000 USD. The proportion of livestock lost to predation (0.1?10.4%) and financial losses (5.3?1560.4 USD) per ranch/yearvaried across ranches, and small sheep ranches in Villarinowere affected the most. Depredation was recorded onlyat night and preferentially in grassland with shrubs andcropland habitats. Although nocturnal enclosures appearedto decrease sheep losses, puma hunting was consideredthe most effective form of reducing depredation and wasimplemented by most ranchers. Mortality rates were 3.7 and1.1?1.56 individuals/year × 100 km2 for sheep and pumas,respectively. Nocturnal fencing, shepherding and spatialseparation from predators may efficiently reduce sheeplosses. However, the poor association between the intensity ofpuma persecution and puma-related livestock losses suggeststhat conflict mitigation in central Argentina is not only about reducing damage but also about increasing tolerance