IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Cassaigne, I.; Medellin, R.A.; Thompson, R.W.; Culver, M.; Ochoa, A.; Vergas, K.; Childs, J.L.; Sanderson, J.; List, R.; Torres-Gomez, A. | |
| Diet of puma (_Puma concolor_) in Sonora, Mexico, as determined by GPS kill sites and molecular identified scat, with comments on jaguar (_Panthera onca_) diet | |
| 2016 The Southwestern Naturalist (61): 125-132 | |
We documented puma (_Puma concolor_) and jaguar (_Panthera onca_) prey consumption in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, by investigating global positioning system cluster sites (n = 220), and conducting molecular analyses of scat (n = 116) collected between 2011 and 2013. We used camera trap data (n = 8,976 camera days) to estimate relative abundances of pumas and jaguars. Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was the most frequent prey for puma found at kill sites (67%) and identified from scat (74%), although based on relative numbers of prey consumed, deer represented 45% and lagomorphs 20% of the proportion of all individuals eaten. A variety of small prey (weighing <15 kg) compromised the majority (52%) of the jaguar kill sites. From prey found at kill sites, jaguars killed calves (_Bos taurus_) at a lower frequency than previously reported, whereas pumas preyed on calves at a higher frequency than previously reported in the same area. In our study area, jaguars preyed on calves at approximately the same rate as pumas (jaguars 3.7 calves per year, pumas 4.9 calves per year). Calculated predation rates were limited only to collared animals within our study area and therefore should not be considered applicable to all pumas and jaguars in Sonora. |
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