Large carnivore feeding is resilient to human disturbance

Impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on wild populations have the potential to alter natural systems. Humans are a main source of mortality for terrestrial carnivores that far exceeds natural mortality, which may lead to commensurate antipredator responses of carnivores toward humans. These behavioural changes have been implicated in trophic cascades, resulting in ecological alterations due to changes in space use or altered kill rates by predators to offset resource losses. These implications highlight the importance of evaluating behavioural responses of carnivores to human disturbance. While studies have implemented both correlative analyses and experimental proxies for human disturbance to assess these questions, here we leveraged an approach using direct human encounters at feeding sites of mountain lions in central Wyoming, USA. Counter to previous studies, mountain lions responded to disturbances through extended time budgets dedicated to feeding sites, >80% return rates after disturbances, and ultimately a marked reduction in feeding rate estimates. Additionally, we found evidence of behavioural flexibility, as the probability of mountain lions returning to feeding sites positively correlated with the cumulative disturbances they incurred. We discuss factors likely to influence state-dependent antipredator responses to disturbance, potential discrepancies across studies, and question the ramifications of behavioural responses to carnivore fitness due to human disturbance via encounters in natural systems.