Living with carnivores
Conflict between pumas (Puma concolor) and livestock owners in Chile promotes the hunting of this species considered vulnerable to extinction (and protected by the Chilean Government), reduces the effectiveness of protected areas and may have severe costs for local farming economies. Historically, the perceived high economic cost and the low cultural status of pumas have led to their extirpation in other parts of the Americas. In spite of these potential consequences, puma attacks on livestock in Chile are poorly monitored and rarely verified. The role of livestock owners’ perceptions and management practices also receive little scrutiny. Our goal is two-fold: to understand livestock owners’ perception of pumas and to develop an effective method of monitoring puma predation on livestock in the Araucanía region of Chile. The purpose of such a system will be to verify puma predation and to construct a comprehensive database on puma-human conflict. Once in place, this database could be used to identify depredation hotspots as well as seasonal trends and differences in habitat or livestock practice that lead to increased conflict. Ultimately, our study aims to determine a culturally relevant and economically feasible manner to reduce the conflict between humans and pumas. The issue has local importance, though it is also of widespread relevance for puma conservation and habitat protection in the rest of Chile.
Farmer surveys
For finding out what really is happening in rural areas there is no substitute for going out and asking the people who live and work there.
