Keywords
mule deer
mountain lion predation
Sierra Maderas del Carmen
survival rate
translocate
Depredación por puma
borrego cimarrón
venado bura
Sierra Maderas del Carmen
tasa de supervivencia
translocación.
How to Cite
Abstract
Small and isolated populations of bighorn sheep are vulnerable to predation by mountain lion in habitat sympatric with mule deer. Understanding the specific causes of death and survival is important for the development of conservation strategies for bighorn sheep and other ungulates that share the same habitat, such as mule deer. We evaluated and compared the rate of predation by puma in 12 bighorn sheep (10 females, two males) and 10 adult females of mule deer with radio collars through measure risk program (micromorts). The impact of predation in both populations of herbivores is evaluated through the estimation of densities of sheep and mule deer. 88 % (8/9) deaths by puma in bighorn sheep with an average monthly survival rate of 0.79 and predation rates due to puma range from 0.17 to 0.30. In mule deer predation due to puma was 83 % (5/6) with an average monthly survival rate of 0.86 and predation rates due to puma range from 0.10 to 0.25, however when comparing the mountain lion depredation rate we found a significant difference between species (Z = 1.826, df = 6, P = 0.05). The density in mule deer was 9x more that bighorn. The bighorn sheep being the prey most selected and the one most affected as the population with the lowest density.
References
Ackerman, B., Lindzey, F., & Hemker, T. (1986). Cougar food habits in southern Utah. Journal of Wildlife Management, 48(1), 147-155.
Baker, R. (1956). Mammals of Coahuila Mexico. University of Kansas Publications: Kansas, E.U.A.: Museum of Natural History.
Bourbean-Lemieux, A., Festa-Bianchet, M., Gillard, J. M., & Pelletier, F. (2011). Predator-driven component Allee effects in a wild ungulate. Ecology Letters, 14, 358-363.
Cashman, J. L., Peirce, M., & Krausman, P. R. (1992). Diets of mountain lions in southwestern Arizona. The Southwestern Naturalist, 37(3), 324-326.
Chow, L. (1991). Population dynamics and movement patterns of bighorn sheep reintroduced to Sierra Nevada, California (Tesis de Maestría). California University, Davis, California.
Courchamp, F., Clutton-Brock, T., & Grenfell, B. (1999). Inverse density dependence and the Allee effect. Tree, 14, 405-410.
Dickens, M. J., Delehanty, D. J., & Romero, L. M. (2000). Stress: an inevitable component of animal translocation. Biological Conservation, 143, 1329-1341.
Elbroch, L. M., & Wittmer, H. U. (2013).The effects of prey selection and specialization on less abundant prey in Patagonia. Journal of Mammalogy, 94(2), 259-268.
Ernest, H. B., Rubin, E. S., & Boyce, W. M. (2002). Fecal DNA analysis and risk assessment of mountain lion predation of bighorn sheep. Journal of Wildlife Management, 66(1), 75-85.
Festa-Bianchet, M. (1991). The social system of bighorn sheep: grouping patterns, kinship and female dominance rank. Animal Behavior, 42, 71-82.
Haynes, C. L., Rubin, E. S., Jorgensen, M. C., Botta, R. A., & Boyce, W. M. (2000). Mountain lion predation of bighorn sheep in the Peninsular Ranges, California. Journal of Wildlife Management, 64(4), 954-956.
Heisey, D. M., & Fuller, T. K. (1985). Evaluation of survival and cause-specific mortality rates using telemetry data. Journal of Wildlife Management, 49(3), 668-674.
Hoban, P. A. (1990). A review of desert bighorn sheep in the San Andres Mountains, New Mexico. Desert Bighorn Council Transactions, 34, 14-22.
Holl, S. A., Bleich, V. C., & Torres, S. G. (2004). Population dynamics of bighorn sheep in the San Gabriel Mountains, California, 1967-2002. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 32, 412-426.
Janke, T. S. (2015). Movements and survival of translocate desert bighorn sheep in the Bofecillos Mountains Transpecos, Texas (Tesis Maestría). Sul Ross University, Alpine, Texas.
Kamler, J. K., Lee, R. L., de Vos, J. C., Balard, W. B., & Whitlaw, H. A. (2002). Survival and cougar predation of translocated bighorn sheep in Arizona. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 66(4), 1267-1227.
Krausman, P. R., & Ables, E. D. (1981). Ecology of the Carmen mountain white-tailed deer. U. S. Department of Interior National Park Service; Washington, D. C. Scientific Monograph Series, 15, 65-73.
Lancia, R. A., Kendall, W. L., Pollock, K. H., & Nichols, J. D. (2005). Estimating the number of animals in wildlife populations En C. E. Braun (Eds.), Techiques for wildlife investigations and management (pp. 117-118). Bethesda, E.U.A.: The Wildlife Society.
Leopold, B. D., & Krausman, P. R. (1986). Diets of 3 predators in Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Wildlife Management, 50(2), 290-295.
Logan, K., & Sweanor, L. (2001). Desert puma: evolutionary ecology and conservation of an enduring carnivore. Washington D. C., E.U.A.: Island press.
McKinney, B. P. (1996). Afield guide to Texas mountain lion. Austin, E.U.A.: Texas Park and Wildlife, Wildlife Division.
McKinney, B., & Villalobos, J. (2005). Desert bighorn sheep reintroduction in Maderas del Carmen, Coahuila, México. Desert Bighorn Council Transactions, 48, 46-49.
McKinney, T., Smith, T., & de Vos, J. C. (2006a). Evaluation of factors potentially influencing a desert bighorn sheep population. Wildlife Monographs, 164, 1-36.
McKinney, T., de Vos, J. C., Ballard, W. B., & Boe, S. R. (2006b). Mountain lion predation of translocated desert bighorn sheep in Arizona. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34(5), 1255-1263.
Mooring, M. S. (2004). Vigilance, predation risk, and the Allee effect in desert bighorn sheep. Journal of Wildlife Management, 68(3), 519-532.
Rominger, E. M. (2018). The Gordian knot of mountain lion predation and bighorn sheep. Journal of Wildlife Management, 82(1), 19-81.
Rominger, E. M, Whitlaw, H. A., Weybright, D. L., Dunn, W. C., & Ballard, W. B. (2004). The influence of mountain lion predation on bighorn sheep translocation. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 68(4), 993-999.
Rosas-Rosas, O. C., Valdez, R., Bender, L. C., & Daniel, D. (2003). Food habits of pumas in northwestern Sonora, Mexico. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 31, 528-535
Ross, P., Jalkotzy, M., & Festa-Bianchet, M. (1997). Cougar predation on bighorn sheep in southwestern Alberta during winter. Canadian Journal Zoology, 74, 771-775.
Sánchez, O. (2005). Familia Bovidae, Borrego Cimarrón. En G. Ceballos & O. Gissell (Eds.), Los Mamíferos silvestres de México (pp. 507-509). México D. F., México: Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad.
Schaefer, R. J., Torres, S. G., & Bleich, V. C. (2000). Survivorship and cause-specific mortality in sympatric population of mountain sheep and mule deer. California Fish and Game, 86(2), 127-135.
Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales [SEMARNAT]. (2013). Programa de Manejo del Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Maderas del Carmen, Coahuila, México. México D. F., México: Instituto Nacional de Ecología.
Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales [SEMARNAT]. (2010). Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 Diario Oficial de la Federación. Recuperado de http://www. profepa.gob.mx/innovaportal/file/435/1/NOM_059_ SEMARNAT_2010.pdf
Simmons, N. M., & Hansen, C. G. (1980). Population survey methods. En G. Monson & L. Summer (Eds.), The Desert Sheep (pp. 270-271) Tucson, E.U.A.: University of Arizona Press.
Velázquez, R. (2012). Evaluación poblacional y del hábitat de un grupo de borregos cimarrones (Ovis canadensis mexicana Merriam, 1901), translocados en la Sierra Maderas del Carmen, Coahuila, México (Tesis de Maestría). U.A.N.L., Linares, México.
Villarreal, J. G. (1999). Venado Cola Blanca; manejo y aprovechamiento cinegético. Monterrey, México: Unión Ganadera Regional.
Villepique, J., Pierce, B., Bleich, V., & Bowyer, R. (2011). Diet of cougar (Puma concolor) following a delaine in a population of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus): lack of evidence for switching prey. The Southwestern Naturalist, 56(2), 187-192.
Wakeling, B. F., Lee, R., Brown, D., Thompson, R. Tluczek, M., & Weisenberger, M. (2009). The restoration of desert big horn sheep in the Southwest, 1957-2007: factors influencing success. Desert Big Horn Council Transactions, 50, 1-17.
Wehausen, J. D. (1996). Effects of mountain lion predation on bighorn sheep in the Sierra Nevada and Granite Mountains of California, Wildlife Society Bulletin, 24(3), 471-479.
Comments
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2018 Hugo Sotelo-Gallardo, Juan Antonio García-Salas, Armando Jesús Contreras-Balderas