Human Contact Causes Female Pumas to Kill More and Eat Less

Humans continue to encroach on the territories of animals. That's why it's crucial to see how animal behavior changes as species come in close contact with one another. Now, researchers have found that female pumas kill more prey but consume less when their territories bump into human development.

In this case, the researchers examined more than two dozen pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

"We investigated how higher housing densities influenced puma behavior at kills and how often they killed," said Justine A. Smith, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We found that female pumas spent less time feeding at kill sites as housing increases."

Interestingly, they found that the presence of humans, such as homes, roads and other development, meant that pumas are more fearful. The large cats prefer to stay on the move rather than returning to a kill site to fully consume their prey.

These behaviors can have impacts on deer populations, as well as breeding success. In fact, the researchers found that female pumas killed 36 percent more deer per year in developed habitats than in more wild habitats.

"Increased kill rates may lead carnivores to waste energy and also influence prey survival rates in human-modified landscapes," said Smith. "We conclude that food loss and high energy costs due to human avoidance at kill sites is compensated for by increasing kill rates."

The greatest impact on puma behaviors was when their hunting territories were within 150 meters of human development. In addition, female pumas are impacted more since they have a smaller range than males, but higher kill rates.

The findings reveal a bit more about how humans can alter ecosystems. More specifically, this study is important when it comes to understanding puma behavior and investigating what conservation efforts should be used.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

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