Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation

Autores
Gaspero, Pablo; De La Vega, Gerardo; Taylor, Joshua P.; Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina; Pereira, Javier Adolfo
Año de publicación
2026
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The restoration of large predator populations in rural landscapes represents a wildlife management challenge worldwide. In human-dominated landscapes, disrupted ecological processes often dictate the success or failure of predation mitigation strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate sheep mortality patterns in Patagonian free-ranging sheep production systems to determine the impact of pumas (Puma concolor) and culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus). We considered the influence of socio-environmental (elevation, terrain ruggedness, NDVI, wild prey availability, European hare relative abundance, native carnivore relative abundance and distance to cities or villages) and management (state-subsidized lethal control and Livestock Guarding Dogs [LGD]) factors on the occurrence of sheep death events from five causes: Starvation-Hypothermia Complex, predation by pumas, culpeo foxes, or feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and undetermined. We monitored sheep mortality across six commercial ranches (covering 1500 km2 and 61,000 sheep) and used hierarchical Bayesian models to evaluate variables operating on sheep death event occurrence. We performed 139 necropsies; pumas, culpeo foxes, and domestic dogs were responsible for 25.9%, 22.3%, and 21.6% of deaths, respectively. Our work showed that (i) LGD significantly reduced sheep death occurrence due to puma predation, and (ii) the occurrence of sheep predation by culpeo foxes was directly influenced by fox relative abundance and inversely influenced by prey availability. We recommend moving beyond native carnivore eradication policies, instead allocating resources to promote LGD implementation. Finally, we urge replacing domestic dog anti-euthanasia laws with responsible ownership and population control policies.
EEA Bariloche
Fil: Gaspero, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: De La Vega, Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Taylor, Joshua P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Pereira, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fuente
Biological Conservation 324 : Article: 112152. (December 2026)
Materia
Depredación
Depredadores
Perro
Zorro
Relaciones Predador Presa
Interacción Biológica
Predation
Predators
Dogs
Foxes
Predator Prey Relations
Biological Interaction
Lycalopex culpaeus
Pumas
Región Patagónica
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso restringido
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
INTA Digital (INTA)
Institución
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
OAI Identificador
oai:localhost:20.500.12123/28305
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oai_identifier_str oai:localhost:20.500.12123/28305
network_acronym_str INTADig
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network_name_str INTA Digital (INTA)
spelling Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predationGaspero, PabloDe La Vega, GerardoTaylor, Joshua P.Fernandez Arhex, Valeria CristinaPereira, Javier AdolfoDepredaciónDepredadoresPerroZorroRelaciones Predador PresaInteracción BiológicaPredationPredatorsDogsFoxesPredator Prey RelationsBiological InteractionLycalopex culpaeusPumasRegión PatagónicaThe restoration of large predator populations in rural landscapes represents a wildlife management challenge worldwide. In human-dominated landscapes, disrupted ecological processes often dictate the success or failure of predation mitigation strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate sheep mortality patterns in Patagonian free-ranging sheep production systems to determine the impact of pumas (Puma concolor) and culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus). We considered the influence of socio-environmental (elevation, terrain ruggedness, NDVI, wild prey availability, European hare relative abundance, native carnivore relative abundance and distance to cities or villages) and management (state-subsidized lethal control and Livestock Guarding Dogs [LGD]) factors on the occurrence of sheep death events from five causes: Starvation-Hypothermia Complex, predation by pumas, culpeo foxes, or feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and undetermined. We monitored sheep mortality across six commercial ranches (covering 1500 km2 and 61,000 sheep) and used hierarchical Bayesian models to evaluate variables operating on sheep death event occurrence. We performed 139 necropsies; pumas, culpeo foxes, and domestic dogs were responsible for 25.9%, 22.3%, and 21.6% of deaths, respectively. Our work showed that (i) LGD significantly reduced sheep death occurrence due to puma predation, and (ii) the occurrence of sheep predation by culpeo foxes was directly influenced by fox relative abundance and inversely influenced by prey availability. We recommend moving beyond native carnivore eradication policies, instead allocating resources to promote LGD implementation. Finally, we urge replacing domestic dog anti-euthanasia laws with responsible ownership and population control policies.EEA BarilocheFil: Gaspero, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: De La Vega, Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Taylor, Joshua P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaElsevier2026-10-30T11:06:09Z2026-10-30T11:06:09Z2026-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/28305https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00063207260046470006-32071873-2917https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112152Biological Conservation 324 : Article: 112152. (December 2026)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L03-I096, Estrategias de restauración, valoración y conservación de la biodiversidad y servicios ecosistemicosinfo:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PE-L01-I037, Desarrollo de sistemas de producción ganaderos climáticamente inteligentes para la Norpatagoniainfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)2026-11-05T11:51:42Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/28305instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2026-11-05 11:51:42.672INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
title Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
spellingShingle Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
Gaspero, Pablo
Depredación
Depredadores
Perro
Zorro
Relaciones Predador Presa
Interacción Biológica
Predation
Predators
Dogs
Foxes
Predator Prey Relations
Biological Interaction
Lycalopex culpaeus
Pumas
Región Patagónica
title_short Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
title_full Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
title_fullStr Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
title_full_unstemmed Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
title_sort Pumas, culpeo foxes, bad and good dogs. Assessing strategies to mitigate predation
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gaspero, Pablo
De La Vega, Gerardo
Taylor, Joshua P.
Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina
Pereira, Javier Adolfo
author Gaspero, Pablo
author_facet Gaspero, Pablo
De La Vega, Gerardo
Taylor, Joshua P.
Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina
Pereira, Javier Adolfo
author_role author
author2 De La Vega, Gerardo
Taylor, Joshua P.
Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina
Pereira, Javier Adolfo
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Depredación
Depredadores
Perro
Zorro
Relaciones Predador Presa
Interacción Biológica
Predation
Predators
Dogs
Foxes
Predator Prey Relations
Biological Interaction
Lycalopex culpaeus
Pumas
Región Patagónica
topic Depredación
Depredadores
Perro
Zorro
Relaciones Predador Presa
Interacción Biológica
Predation
Predators
Dogs
Foxes
Predator Prey Relations
Biological Interaction
Lycalopex culpaeus
Pumas
Región Patagónica
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The restoration of large predator populations in rural landscapes represents a wildlife management challenge worldwide. In human-dominated landscapes, disrupted ecological processes often dictate the success or failure of predation mitigation strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate sheep mortality patterns in Patagonian free-ranging sheep production systems to determine the impact of pumas (Puma concolor) and culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus). We considered the influence of socio-environmental (elevation, terrain ruggedness, NDVI, wild prey availability, European hare relative abundance, native carnivore relative abundance and distance to cities or villages) and management (state-subsidized lethal control and Livestock Guarding Dogs [LGD]) factors on the occurrence of sheep death events from five causes: Starvation-Hypothermia Complex, predation by pumas, culpeo foxes, or feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and undetermined. We monitored sheep mortality across six commercial ranches (covering 1500 km2 and 61,000 sheep) and used hierarchical Bayesian models to evaluate variables operating on sheep death event occurrence. We performed 139 necropsies; pumas, culpeo foxes, and domestic dogs were responsible for 25.9%, 22.3%, and 21.6% of deaths, respectively. Our work showed that (i) LGD significantly reduced sheep death occurrence due to puma predation, and (ii) the occurrence of sheep predation by culpeo foxes was directly influenced by fox relative abundance and inversely influenced by prey availability. We recommend moving beyond native carnivore eradication policies, instead allocating resources to promote LGD implementation. Finally, we urge replacing domestic dog anti-euthanasia laws with responsible ownership and population control policies.
EEA Bariloche
Fil: Gaspero, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: De La Vega, Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Taylor, Joshua P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: Fernandez Arhex, Valeria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Pereira, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
description The restoration of large predator populations in rural landscapes represents a wildlife management challenge worldwide. In human-dominated landscapes, disrupted ecological processes often dictate the success or failure of predation mitigation strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate sheep mortality patterns in Patagonian free-ranging sheep production systems to determine the impact of pumas (Puma concolor) and culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus). We considered the influence of socio-environmental (elevation, terrain ruggedness, NDVI, wild prey availability, European hare relative abundance, native carnivore relative abundance and distance to cities or villages) and management (state-subsidized lethal control and Livestock Guarding Dogs [LGD]) factors on the occurrence of sheep death events from five causes: Starvation-Hypothermia Complex, predation by pumas, culpeo foxes, or feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and undetermined. We monitored sheep mortality across six commercial ranches (covering 1500 km2 and 61,000 sheep) and used hierarchical Bayesian models to evaluate variables operating on sheep death event occurrence. We performed 139 necropsies; pumas, culpeo foxes, and domestic dogs were responsible for 25.9%, 22.3%, and 21.6% of deaths, respectively. Our work showed that (i) LGD significantly reduced sheep death occurrence due to puma predation, and (ii) the occurrence of sheep predation by culpeo foxes was directly influenced by fox relative abundance and inversely influenced by prey availability. We recommend moving beyond native carnivore eradication policies, instead allocating resources to promote LGD implementation. Finally, we urge replacing domestic dog anti-euthanasia laws with responsible ownership and population control policies.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026-10-30T11:06:09Z
2026-10-30T11:06:09Z
2026-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/28305
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320726004647
0006-3207
1873-2917
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112152
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/28305
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320726004647
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112152
identifier_str_mv 0006-3207
1873-2917
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L03-I096, Estrategias de restauración, valoración y conservación de la biodiversidad y servicios ecosistemicos
info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PE-L01-I037, Desarrollo de sistemas de producción ganaderos climáticamente inteligentes para la Norpatagonia
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv restrictedAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Biological Conservation 324 : Article: 112152. (December 2026)
reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)
instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str INTA Digital (INTA)
collection INTA Digital (INTA)
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.name.fl_str_mv INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.mail.fl_str_mv tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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score 13.334379

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