Rates of survival and sources of mortality of cougars in hunted populations in North-Central Arizona

Estimating rates of survival of cougars (Puma concolor) and identifying sources of mortalities potentially enhance management prescriptions. Sport hunting is believed to be the primary cause of mortality in hunted populations of cougars, but little research has evaluated how hunting and other causes of death might influence survival and sources of mortality of these predators in semi-arid ecosystems. We captured and monitored 16 adults (12 males, 4 females) during 2006 and 2007 on two heavily hunted, semi-arid, study areas in north-central Arizona. Rates of survival of adults differed moderately between study areas and years, generally were ≤ 0.67, and were comparatively low for combined years 00.55). One-half of radiocollared adults died during the study, and sport hunting was the primary cause of deaths, followed by intraspecifyc aggression and collision with vehicles. We hypothesize that sport hunting was the primary factor influencing relatively low rates of survival of cougars on the study areas. La estimacion de la tasa de supervivencia y la identifycacion de las fuentes de mortandad en pumas (Puma concolor) puede ser de utilidad para la toma de decisiones de manejo. Se cree que la caza deportiva es la causa principal de mortandad en poblaciones de pumas perseguidos, pero existe poca investigacion que documente como la caceria y otras causas de muerte pudieran influenciar la supervivencia y causas de mortandad de estos depredadores en ecosistemas semi-aridos. Se capturaron y monitorearon 16 pumas adultos (12 machos, 4 hembras) durante el 2006 y e12007 en dos areas de estudio, semi-aridas con mucha caceria en el norte-centro de Arizona. Los porcentajes de supervivencia difirieron moderadamente entre areas de estudio y anos, generalmente fueron ≤ 0.67, y resultaron comparativamente bajas para los anos combinados [is less than or equal to] 0.55). La mitad de los adultos con radiocollares murieron durante el estudio, siendo la caceria deportiva la principal causa de la muerte, seguida por agresion miraespecifica y colision con vehiculos. Se propone la hipotesis de que la caceria deportiva fue el factor mas importante influenciando la tasa de supervivencia relativamente baja de los pumas en las areas de estudio.