Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...
Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...
Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...
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Estimating <strong>Lion</strong> Population Abundance Using DNA Samples in <strong>the</strong><br />
Blackfoot Drainage <strong>of</strong> West-Central Montana<br />
Richard M. DeSimone, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 600 North Park Ave., Helena,<br />
MT 59620 rdesimone@mt.gov<br />
Michael K. Schwartz, Rocky <strong>Mountain</strong> Research Station, United States Forest Service,<br />
Missoula, MT 59807 mkschwartz@fs.fed.us<br />
Kristine L. Pilgrim, Rocky <strong>Mountain</strong> Research Station, United States Forest Service,<br />
Missoula, MT 59807 kpilgrim@fs.fed.us<br />
Kevin S. McKelvey, Rocky <strong>Mountain</strong> Research Station, United States Forest Service,<br />
Missoula, MT 59807 kmckelvey@fs.fed.us<br />
ABSTRACT <strong>Mountain</strong> lion (Puma concolor) DNA was collected from late November<br />
2005 through February 2006 from a 1,377-km 2 area in <strong>the</strong> Blackfoot Drainage <strong>of</strong> westcentral<br />
Montana to evaluate to <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> DNA sampling to estimate lion abundance.<br />
Three houndsmen spent 80 days systematically hunting, treeing lions and collecting<br />
tissue samples using biopsy darts fired from a CO2-powered rifle. They drove 920 km,<br />
snowmobiled 5800 km and hiked 65 km. Thirty four tissue samples were collected<br />
representing 20 individual lions (estimated to weigh over 34 kg). All tissue samples<br />
were successfully genotyped using 12 variable, microsatellite loci, which allowed ample<br />
power to discern individuals. In addition, 60 lion tracks were backtracked, 158 hair<br />
samples were collected and 133 analyzed. Twenty percent <strong>of</strong> backtracks and 13% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
hair samples resulted in quality DNA for individual and sex identification. During <strong>the</strong><br />
first sampling period (late November–January), 20 individual lions were genotyped from<br />
17 tissue and 3 hair samples. During <strong>the</strong> second sampling period during February, 12<br />
individual lions were genotyped from 10 tissue and 2 hair samples. Eight <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 12 lions<br />
during <strong>the</strong> second sampling period were recaptures. Overall, a total <strong>of</strong> 24 individual lions<br />
were identified (14 females, 9 males, and 1 unknown). A simple Lincoln-Petersen index<br />
produces an abundance estimate <strong>of</strong> 29 lions with a 95% CI that ranged between 25 and<br />
33, resulting in an estimated density <strong>of</strong> between 1.8 and 2.4 lions per 100 km 2 . These<br />
preliminary results suggest that DNA sampling may be a valuable monitoring technique<br />
to estimate lion abundance.<br />
<strong>Proceedings</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Ninth</strong> <strong>Mountain</strong> <strong>Lion</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong><br />
162