Human–Cougar interactions in the wildland–urban interface of Colorado's front range

As human populations continue to expand across the world, the need to understand and manage wildlife populations within the wildland–urban interface is becoming commonplace. This is especially true for large carnivores as these species are not always tolerated by the public and can pose a risk to human safety. Unfortunately, information on wildlife species within the wildland–urban interface is sparse, and knowledge from wildland ecosystems does not always translate well to human‐dominated systems. Across western North America, cougars (Puma concolor) are routinely utilizing wildland–urban habitats while human use of these areas for homes and recreation is increasing. From 2007 to 2015, we studied cougar resource selection, human–cougar interaction, and cougar conflict management within the wildland–urban landscape of the northern Front Range in Colorado, USA. Resource selection of cougars within this landscape was typical of cougars in more remote settings but cougar interactions with ...