IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Dare, O.K.; Watkins, W.G. | |
| First record of parasites from cougars (_Puma concolor_) in Manitoba, Canada | |
| 2012 The Canadian Field-Naturalist (126): 324-327 | |
The Cougar (_Puma concolor_) is a rare species in Manitoba; only one confirmed sighting per year has been recorded since 2001. Historical accounts are few, but it seems likely that the range of the species ex - tended to the north as far as southern Manitoba at the time of European settlement. Cougars were generally assumed to have been extirpated from the province until 1973, when an adult male Cougar was shot by a landowner. This event and a review of well-documented sightings established the Cougar as being resident (Nero and Wrigley 1977). However, 31 years passed before another dead Cougar was turned over to wildlife management authorities. In 2004, an adult female Cougar was also shot by a landowner. One month later and 97 km away, an adult male was caught by a licensed trapper in a power snare set for Coyotes (Canis latrans). The propensity to scavenge makes Cougars susceptible to baited traps set for Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) or Coyotes (Knopff et al. 2010), and a fourth Cougar (the third adult male), was discovered in a trap set for Coyotes close to the Canada-U.S. border south of Boissevain in January 2011. The ratio of male to female Cougars that have been killed in Manitoba and the lack of any confirmed sightings of kittens over the last 10 years make it unclear whether the few animals found in recent years are members of a resident cryptic population or are dispersing into or through the province from populations elsewhere. The nearest known breeding population is found in North Dakota, and a recent evaluation of potential dispersal corridors in the U.S. Midwest noted several that potentially connect the Badlands of North Dakota to southern Manitoba (LaRue and Nielsen 2008). There is little evidence to suggest that Cougars in Manitoba may have come from the Cypress Hills population on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border to the west. Although the source of the few Cougars observed in Manitoba remains unknown, the identification of their associated parasites provides a basis for further investigation into where these Cougars have been, that is, host range dispersal and possible source of intermediate host species. We report our observations of parasites found in the Cougar caught in January 2011 and, within the limits of our single sample, discuss our findings. |
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