Survival and mortality of pumas (Puma concolor) in a fragmented, urbanizing landscape

Wide-ranging large carnivores pose myriad challenges for conservation, especially in highly fragmented landscapes. Over a 13-year period, we combined monitoring of radio collared pumas (Puma concolor) with complementary multi-generational genetic analyses to inform puma conservation in southern California, USA. Our goals were to generate survivorship estimates, determine causes of mortality, identify barriers to movement, and determine the genetic and demographic challenges to puma persistence among >20,000,000 people and extensive urban, suburban, and exurban development. Despite protection from hunting, annual survival for radio collared pumas was surprisingly low (55.8%), and humans caused the majority of puma deaths. The most common sources of mortality were vehicle collisions (28% of deaths), and mortalities resulting from depredation permits issued after pumas killed domestic animals (17% of deaths). Other human-caused mortalities included illegal shootings, public safety remov...

活动范围广泛的大型食肉动物给野生动物保护工作带来了诸多挑战，在高度破碎化的栖息地中这一问题尤为突出。本研究历时13年，结合对佩戴无线电颈圈（radio collar）的美洲狮（Puma concolor）的监测与多世代遗传分析，为美国加利福尼亚州南部的美洲狮保护工作提供科学支撑。研究目标包括：生成种群存活率估算值、确定死亡原因、识别活动阻隔因素，以及在超过2000万人口及大规模城市、郊区和远郊开发的背景下，明确美洲狮存续所面临的遗传与种群统计学挑战。尽管美洲狮免受狩猎威胁，但佩戴无线电颈圈个体的年存活率仅为55.8%，这一结果出人意料，且绝大多数美洲狮死亡均由人类活动导致。最常见的死亡原因为车辆碰撞（占死亡事件的28%），其次是因美洲狮捕杀家畜后核发的猎捕许可导致的死亡（占17%）。其他人为致死原因包括非法猎杀、为保障公共安全进行的移除……