Social interactions in a solitary carnivore

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Wildlife Biology

Background:

• Many terrestrial carnivores are solitary, leading to assumptions of rare adult conspecific interactions.
• Carnivore ecology often relies on the premise that solitary individuals rarely interact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test land-tenure territoriality and resource dispersion hypotheses in pumas (Puma concolor).
• To investigate the frequency and context of interactions among solitary carnivores.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track puma movements and interactions.
• Employed motion-triggered cameras to document behaviors and conspecific encounters.
• Recorded 89 independent GPS interactions and 59 camera-observed interactions.

Main Results:

• 60% of GPS interactions and 17% of camera interactions occurred at puma kills.
• Contact rates were 5.5 times higher in winter (0.6 interactions/week) than summer (0.1 interactions/week).
• Observed puma aggregations of up to 9 individuals at kills, including courtship behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Findings support the resource dispersion hypothesis, explaining temporary social behaviors at concentrated resources.
• Conspecific tolerance at large prey kills is logical due to the reduced costs of sharing versus defending.
• Highlights the need for further research into the drivers of tolerance among solitary carnivores.