Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

158 DISPERSAL IN MALE PUMAS · Laundré and Hernández
competition hypothesis. It is unclear as to
what they meant by “tolerable competition”
but at any level of competition within its
natal home range, a young male will be at a
competitive disadvantage to his father or any
new male immigrant; they will, by default,
all be older and larger. Thus, under the
competition hypothesis, we would expect no
young males to compete successfully with
their fathers or any older immigrant male
that arrives to their home area.
Consequently, we would predict that young
males would all have to disperse, which is
what all studies have found. Their chances
of competing for a home range 1 HRD from
their natal area is still low but greater than
zero because they are now slightly older and
bigger and we would predict that some, not
many, might establish territories that close
to their natal home range. This is supported
by the data presented, 2 out of 48 dispersing
males set up territories within the first HRD.
The further they disperse in time and space,
the more competitive they should be and we
would predict that they would start winning
the competition for territories. Thus rather
than refuting the competition model, the fact
that Logan and Sweanor (2001) found only
6 males in 10 years born in the area setting
up territories within the study area starting at
≈ 2.5 HRDs, actually supports and would
have been predicted by the competition
hypothesis. Consequently, we contend that
all the data presented by Logan and Sweanor
(2001) concur with Sweanor’s (1990)
original conclusion to reject the inbreeding
hypothesis and provide strong support for
the competition model.
In conclusion, after our analysis, we also
concur with Sweanor’s (1990) original
assessment and rejected the inbreeding
model because resident males do fight and
kill their male offspring as well as younger
transients, resident males do mate with their
daughters, and dispersal distances were
found to best fit that predicted by the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
competition model. We conclude that young
males are forced out of their natal home
range by their fathers or incoming males
who, by default, will be older and stronger.
We propose that they continue to disperse
until they gain weight and experience
enough to successfully takeover a territory.
What we propose is that the avoidance of
inbreeding is very likely not the driving
force behind dispersal in young male pumas
but rather, likely is a serendipitous
consequence of dispersal driven by
competitive interactions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The data from our study was gathered
with the financial and logistic support of the
following foundations and agencies:
ALSAM Foundation, Boone and Crockett
Club, Earthwatch Institute, Idaho State
University, National Rifle Association, The
Eppley Foundation, U.S. Bureau of Land
Management, The Northern Rockies
Conservation Cooperative, Idaho
Department of Fish and Game, Mazamas,
The Merril G. and Emita E. Hasting
Foundation, Patagonia, Inc., SEACON of
the Chicago Zoological Society, The
William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris
Foundation, and Utah Division of Wildlife.
We would like to thank the many
Earthwatch volunteers without whose help
this work would not have been
accomplished. We thank J. Linnell and M.
Culver for their helpful comments on this
manuscript. We also thank the various
researchers whose published data we used in
our analysis. It is through research efforts
like theirs that we are able to advance our
understanding of puma ecology and
behavior. Lastly, we especially thank Kevin
Allred and Ken Jafek. It is only through
their tireless enthusiasm and willing use of
their tracking dogs that our study was
possible.