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Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...

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Cougar Home Range Shifts and Apparent Decrease in Cougar<br />

Abundance in <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.<br />

Drew Reed, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

drew@bswy.us<br />

Travis Bartnick, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

travisdbartnick@yahoo.com<br />

Marilyn Cuthill, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

chambley56@hotmail.com<br />

Dan McCarthy, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

danmccarthy26@yahoo.com<br />

Howard Quigley, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

hquigley@attglobal.net<br />

Derek Craighead, Craighead Beringia South, P.O. Box 147, Kelly, WY 83011, USA,<br />

Derek@bswy.us<br />

ABSTRACT The stability <strong>of</strong> large mammalian populations is considered relatively<br />

constant over short periods <strong>of</strong> time (< 5 yrs) unless strong human influences are active or<br />

disease plays a role. Dramatic fluctuations in numbers and distribution are rarely<br />

documented except as <strong>the</strong>y relate to human-influenced populations. This also appears to<br />

be <strong>the</strong> case in cougar populations. Beginning in 2001 and continuing through 2005, six<br />

adult radiocollared cougars (5 Females, 1 Male) were tracked intensively to document<br />

cougar home ranges, movements, and predation within <strong>the</strong> Buffalo Fork River drainage<br />

nor<strong>the</strong>ast <strong>of</strong> Jackson, Wyoming. Cougar locations were obtained through ground-based<br />

telemetry, GPS collars, aerial telemetry, and capture locations. We used LOAS 4.0<br />

triangulation s<strong>of</strong>tware to derive <strong>the</strong> ground-based telemetry locations; all o<strong>the</strong>r methods<br />

produced a single UTM location. We documented <strong>the</strong> death and non-replacement <strong>of</strong> three<br />

adult female resident cougars in <strong>the</strong> focal area. These deaths presented no evidence <strong>of</strong><br />

human cause or influence. In addition, two adult female residents shifted <strong>the</strong>ir home<br />

ranges, one <strong>of</strong> which partially overlapped her previous area and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r seemingly<br />

abandoned her previous area. Both <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se females were raising kittens <strong>of</strong> less than one<br />

year old at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir home-range shifts. The cause <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se population changes are<br />

difficult to identify. No disease was documented; however, <strong>the</strong>se changes were correlated<br />

with concurrent increases in wolves, decreases in prey abundance, and shifts in prey<br />

distribution.<br />

<strong>Proceedings</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Ninth</strong> <strong>Mountain</strong> <strong>Lion</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong><br />

153

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