Reacción de comunidades rurales de la cordillera occidental de Perú en interacciones con el puma (Puma concolor), con y sin pérdida de animales domésticos / Reactions of rural communities of the western cordillera of Peru during interactions with puma (Puma concolor), with and without livestock loss

Entre los años 2013 y el 2017, siete (7) interacciones de pumas con comunidades rurales fueron registradas, cuatro (n= 4) de las cuales incluyeron ataques a animales domésticos, y donde la respuesta de la comunidad fue la persecución y muerte del puma. En los otros tres (n 3) registros, no se reportaron daños a rebaños, y los pumas fueron capturados, o por la comunidad, o por el servicio público, y translocados por el servicio público a una nueva área. A pesar del bajo número de muestras, los resultados revelan: (1) que existen casos en los que la población no elimina al felino inmediatamente sucedida la interacción, y solicitan asistencia de las autoridades; (2) aunque las autoridades reaccionan de la mejor manera posible para efectuar translocaciones, en una ocasión un puma silvestre fue enviado a un zoológico y en la otra el puma fue abatido, lo que demanda la implementación de un protocolo para ayudar a la toma de decisiones en estas situaciones. Los resultados también indicarían: (1) que los niveles de tolerancia de la población serían menores cuando hay pérdidas de rebaños domésticos; (2) que las interacciones en áreas residenciales rurales y el registro cerca del litoral desértico, zona distante de hábitats característicos de los pumas, serían indicios de una posible expansión de las poblaciones de pumas.

Records of interactions of pumas with rural communities (n= 7) are registered from 2013 to 2017, four of them with attacks on domestic herds, which resulted in the persecution and death of the puma. In the remaining three records, without damage to domestic herds, the puma was captured, either by the community, or by the public service, and translocated by the public service to a new area. Despite the low sample size, the results revealed: (1) That, there are cases in which the population does not eliminate the feline promptly, but calls for assistance from the authorities; (2) That the authorities react as best they can to carry out translocations in spite of that, in one occasion a wild puma was sent to a zoo and in other it was killed, which requires the implementation of a standardized protocol to aid decision making in these situations. The results indicate other possible consequences: (1) That the tolerance levels of the population appear to be lower when there are losses of domestic herds; (2) A possible expansion of the puma population, as in other regions of its distribution, due to interactions in residential areas and registry near the desert coast, away from appropriate habitats.

Mosaics of exotic forest plantations and native forests as habitat of pumas.

There is a general lack of information on the impact of forest plantations and the presence of urban settlements on populations of resource-demanding species such as large felids. To partially address this problem, a project study was conducted to find out whether mosaics of forest plantations and native vegetation can function as an adequate habitat for pumas (Puma concolor) in southern Brazil. The study was conducted within a 1255-km(2) area, managed for planted stands of Pinus spp. and Eucalyptus spp. Individual identification of pumas was carried out using a combination of track-matching analysis (discriminant analysis) and camera-trapping. Both techniques recorded closely similar numbers of individual pumas, either total (9-10 individuals) or resident (5-6 individuals). A new approach, developed during this study, was used to individualize pumas by their markings around the muzzle. The estimated density varied from 6.2 to 6.9 individuals/100 km(2), ranking among the highest across the entire puma range and indicating a potential total population of up to 87 individuals in the study site. In spite of the availability of extensive areas without human disturbance, a radio-tracked female used a core home range that included forest plantations, an urbanized village, and a two-lane paved road with regular vehicular traffic. The high density of pumas and the species' intensive use of modified landscapes are interpreted here as deriving from conditions rarely found near human settlements: mutual tolerance by pumas and humans and an adequate habitat (regardless of plantations) largely due to the inhibition of invasions and hunting and maintenance of sizable extents of native forest patches. More widely, it suggests the potential of careful management in forestry operations to provide habitat conditions for resource-demanding species such as the puma. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of curbing invasions and hunting, in this case provided by the presence of company employees, for the maintenance of wildlife populations.

Capillaria hepatica in Puma concolor: first report in Brazil.

Capillaria hepatica was detected by histopathologic diagnosis in two cougars that were shot in April 2008 in Painel, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Macroscopic analysis of their livers revealed the presence of diffuse granulomas, and the histopathologic analysis indicated the presence of C. hepatica eggs, surrounded by mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltrate, small foci of necrosis, and mild-to-moderate fibrosis. This is the first report of C. hepatica in cougars (Puma concolor) in Brazil.