IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Krumm, C.E.; Conner, M.M.; Hobbs, T.; Thompson Hobbs, N.; Hunter, D.O.; Miller, M.W. | |
| Mountain lions prey selectively on prion-infected mule deer | |
| 2010 Biology Letters | |
The possibility that predators choose prey selectively based on age or condition has been suggested but rarely tested. We examined whether mountain lions (_Puma concolor_) selectively prey upon mule deer (_Odocoileus hemionus_) infected with chronic wasting disease, a prion disease. We located kill sites of mountain lions in the northern Front Range of Colorado, USA, and compared disease prevalence among lion-killed adult (2 years old) deer with prevalence among sympatric deer taken by hunters in the vicinity of kill sites. Hunter-killed female deer were less likely to be infected than males (odds ratios (OR) 5 0.2, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 5 0.1-0.6; p 5 0.015). However, both female (OR 5 8.5, 95% CI 5 2.3-30.9) and male deer (OR 5 3.2, 95% CI 5 1-10) killed by a mountain lion were more likely to be infected than samesex deer killed in the vicinity by a hunter (p < 0.001), suggesting that mountain lions in this area actively selected prion-infected individuals when targeting adult mule deer as prey items. |
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