El gato andino Leopardus jacobita y otros mamíferos en el sitio prioritario Andenes de Cuyocuyo, Puno, Perú

El gato andino es uno de los gatos más raros en Sudamérica. Si bien tiene una distribución amplia en los Andes, hay pocos registros confiables y muchos sitios cuya presencia no ha sido confirmada. El objetivo del estudio fue confirmar la presencia del gato andino (Leopardus jacobita) en el sitio prioritario Andenes de Cuyocuyo, ubicado al sureste del Perú. En el 2018, con un esfuerzo de 1275 cámaras-trampa/día, se obtuvo 123 detecciones de 11 mamíferos, los más frecuentes fueron: Lagidium viscacia, Leopardus jacobita, Hippocamelus antisensis y Leopardus garleppi. El índice de abundancia relativa del gato andino resultó en 9.09 (N= 12, DE= 32.20) y el patrón de actividad indica que tienen hábito diurno (Fr= 0.42) y nocturno (Fr= 0.33). La confirmación de presencia del gato andino en el sitio prioritario Andenes de Cuyocuyo resalta que es necesario implementar mecanismos de conservación con las comunidades campesinas que aseguren la conservación del gato andino y de los otros mamíferos en esta región del Perú.

Temporal overlap between two sympatric carnivores in northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador

The coexistence of sympatric species is determined by differences in their ecological niche.  Thus, for taxonomically and ecologically similar species to coexist, they must segregate in at least one of the three most important dimensions of the ecological niche: space, time or diet.  The Pampas Cat Leopardus colocola and the Sechuran Fox Lycalopex sechurae are sympatric species; and they are the most common medium-sized carnivores in the Sechura Desert and in the lowland seasonally dry tropical forest of Peru and Ecuador.  We evaluated the activity pattern of both mesocarnivores using camera trapping and temporal overlap analysis in both arid ecosystems.  We found a high degree of activity overlap and no statistically significant difference in the activity pattern of both species (Δ = 0.85 with 95% CI = 0.81 – 0.94; W = 0.531, SD = 2, P = 0.767), both being cathemeral.  There is, however, a contrasting pattern in the daytime activity of these species in the dry forest.  These results suggest that the different diet composition may be the main dimension that is facilitating the coexistence of both mesocarnivores in the arid ecosystems of northern Peru and southern Ecuador.

Mammalian carnivore occupancy is inversely related to presence of domestic dogs in the high Andes of Ecuador

Although the Andes have long been occupied by people, habitat loss, fragmentation through deforestation, and other human activities such as introduction of invasive species have increased drastically during the past century. The Ecuadorian Andes are considered a biodiversity hotspot. However, the fauna and threats to the region are poorly studied, and understanding of factors that shape the distribution of species in habitats disturbed by human activities is needed to identify and mitigate region-wide threats to wildlife. We evaluated factors associated with patterns of occurrence of Andean carnivores in landscapes of the northern Ecuadorian Andes, particularly habitat loss, fragmentation, and occupancy of domestic dogs, and determined whether thresholds occurred for these factors beyond which carnivore occurrence declined markedly. Five study areas (each 20 x 20 km) were surveyed with a total effort of 2,800 camera trap nights. Occupancies of four of the eight carnivores known from the region were best predicted by occupancy of domestic dogs rather than measures of habitat loss and fragmentation [Andean fox (Pseudalopex culpaeus), puma (Puma concolor), striped hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus semistriatus), and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus)]. The two largest carnivores, puma and Andean bear, demonstrated significant threshold responses to the presence of domestic dogs at two sites. Four smaller carnivores were recorded too infrequently to model occupancy, and at least two of these species appear to be in decline. The magnitude of domestic dog impacts on native species in tropical areas like the Ecuadorian Andes currently are not recognized. Results of our study indicate that small and large carnivores are in urgent need of conservation and clearly point to dogs as a significant threat to a broad range of native species.

Comparing hair-morphology and molecular methods to identify fecal samples from Neotropical felids

To avoid certain problems encountered with more-traditional and invasive methods in behavioral-ecology studies of mammalian predators, such as felids, molecular approaches have been employed to identify feces found in the field. However, this method requires a complete molecular biology laboratory, and usually also requires very fresh fecal samples to avoid DNA degradation. Both conditions are normally absent in the field. To address these difficulties, identification based on morphological characters (length, color, banding, scales and medullar patterns) of hairs found in feces could be employed as an alternative. In this study we constructed a morphological identification key for guard hairs of eight Neotropical felids (jaguar, oncilla, Geoffroy's cat, margay, ocelot, Pampas cat, puma and jaguarundi) and compared its efficiency to that of a molecular identification method, using the ATP6 region as a marker. For this molecular approach, we simulated some field conditions by postponing sample-conservation procedures. A blind test of the identification key obtained a nearly 70% overall success rate, which we considered equivalent to or better than the results of some molecular methods (probably due to DNA degradation) found in other studies. The jaguar, puma and jaguarundi could be unequivocally discriminated from any other Neotropical felid. On a scale ranging from inadequate to excellent, the key proved poor only for the margay, with only 30% of its hairs successfully identified using this key; and have intermediate success rates for the remaining species, the oncilla, Geoffroy's cat, ocelot and Pampas cat, were intermediate. Complementary information about the known distributions of felid populations may be necessary to substantially improve the results obtained with the key. Our own molecular results were even better, since all blind-tested samples were correctly identified. Part of these identifications were made from samples kept in suboptimal conditions, with some samples remaining outdoors for up to seven days, simulating conditions in the field. It appears that both methods can be used, depending on the available laboratory facilities and on the expected results.

A problem shared is a problem reduced: seeking efficiency in the conservation of felids and primates

Threats faced by mammalian species can be grouped into one of a handful of categories, such as habitat loss, unsustainable hunting and persecution. Insofar as they face common threats, diverse species may benefit from the same conservation intervention, thereby offering efficiencies in conservation action. We explore this proposition for primates and felids by examining coarse scale overlaps in geographical distributions, using IUCN Red List assessments of the primary threats posed to each species. A global analysis of primates and felids that face common threats reveals the greatest overlap is in Central and South Asia, where up to 14 primates and felids co-occur. More than 80% of the land where at least 1 threatened species of either primate or felid occurs also contains at least one threatened species of the other taxon, yet over 60% of these grid cells containing both threatened primates and felids lie outside Conservation International's hot spots. A review of IUCN Action Plans of the threats to felids and primates strongly supports the hypothesis that they are often the same and occur in the same place. In principle, steps to conserve big cats have the potential to benefit several species of threatened primates, and vice versa.

Life and dinner under the shared umbrella: patterns in felid and primate communities

Sympatry between primates and felids is potentially relevant to both their behavioural ecology and their conservation. This paper briefly introduces felids and primates, for the purposes of assessing their interrelationships and the patterns in their spatial congruence using IUCN spatial data. First, we review evidence and opportunity for predator-prey interactions between the felids and primates. Second, we analyse the overlap between species of the two taxa to reveal the potential of particular felid species or guilds (unique combinations of 2 or more felids) to act as umbrellas for the conservation of co-occurring primates. Felid guilds vary in terms of their geographical ranges and numbers of members. Some felid species overlap the ranges of many primate species, and the most speciose felid guilds, while geographically limited in distribution, have the potential to act as protective umbrellas to large numbers of primate species. This prompts the hypothesis that threatened primates and felids are facing similar threats and might thus benefit from similar interventions, which is evaluated in a sister paper by Macdonald et al. in this special issue.