Regional News Southeast

D'AGOSTINO, R.L.; NABTE, M.J.; UDRIZAR SAUTHIER, D.E.

The Wild Felid Monitor

Wild Felid and Management Association

Año: 2015 vol. 8

R. D’Agostino, M. Nabte, and D. UrdrizarSauthier are studying the carnivores ofthe Wildlife Reserve San Pablo de Valdés(WRSPV; 42°36’S; 64°10’W), includingthree native felids: puma (Puma concolor),geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) andpampas cat (Leopardus colocolo). This reserveencompasses 7,360 hectares and was a ranchfrom 1918-2005, supporting about 3500sheep. In 2005 it was bought by the ArgentinaWildlife Foundation and converted into awildlife reserve, removing the internal fencesand livestock. These workers plan to comparethe carnivore assemblage of the WRSPVof the last 3500 years of the Holocenewith the current assemblage, hoping toinfer changes in richness and abundanceand elucidate environmental or anthropiccauses of change. They also are 1) studyinghabitat use and behavior in shrub steppes,grasslands, and dwarf shrub steppes; and 2)implementing seasonal monitoring, usingline-transects and track counts. Additionally,they plan to 1) analyze diet compositionusing fecal analysis and compare resultswith prey availability based on live capturetraps and 2) compare carnivore assemblagesof the WSRPV with surrounding cattleranches, developing sustainable managementguidelines to minimize conflicts betweenranchers and carnivores.