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First soft-release of a relocated puma in South America

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Abstract

Pumas (Puma concolor) are the second largest Neotropical felid, widespread throughout of the Americas. In Brazil, the species is presently affected by habitat destruction and fragmentation, driven often by the increase of road density. As a result, individuals are often victims of collisions with vehicles, some of which survive and are taken to zoos and other institutions for treatment. Some animals recover fully and would be fit for reintroduction into the wild. However, few attempts have been made to adequately conduct and monitor these reintroductions throughout South and Central America. We here present data on a soft-release experiment with a young male puma which was hit by a vehicle in state of São Paulo, Brazil. After 16 months in a felid conservation center, the animal recovered from the wounds and was transferred to a pre-release fenced area. Diel activity differed between the two enclosures, with that in the latter being closer to what has been described for individuals in the wild (i.e., mainly nocturnal and crepuscular activity). Prior to release, the animal was equipped with a radio collar. Monitoring showed a preference for commercial forests (Pinus spp. and Eucalyptus spp.) and avoidance of pastures and secondary forests. Later, there was a shift towards primary forest. Four hundred and thirty-three days after its release, the animal was killed in another vehicle collision, 55 km from the first one. Although sample size is small and the study period short, our data on activity, habitat preferences, and movements showed that the released animal presented ecological patterns close to those described in wild animals. This suggests that the soft-release protocol used in this study worked, giving the animal another chance to survive in the highly altered anthropogenic landscapes of state of São Paulo, Brazil.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Prefeitura (City Hall) and the Secretaria de Planejamento e Meio Ambiente (Secretary of Planning and Environment) of the city of Jundiaí, and the rangers of the Guarda Ambiental. Tetra Pak® do Brazil, the road concessionaire CCR AutoBAN (responsible for the highways Anhanguera and Bandeirantes), and VETNIL® provided part of the equipment and funding. We are grateful to the staff of the Serra do Japi Reserve for granting us a research permit and for supporting the fieldwork. We also thank Jorge Bellix de Campos, Paulo Anselmo, Marília F. Giorgete, Eduardo Pontes, Antônio Luis J. M. Pereira, Maíra S. M. Godoy, and other technicians of the Associação Mata Ciliar. LMR was co-supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (Fundo Social Europeu-III Quadro Comunitário de Apoio; SFRH/BPD/101556/2014), University of Aveiro (Department of Biology), CESAM (UID/AMB/50017), and FCT/MEC through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. WDC was granted a PhD fellowship and sandwich PhD fellowship (process 99999.002169/2014-02) by CAPES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Brasileiro para Conservação dos Felinos Neotropicais, Associação Mata Ciliar–Av. Emílio Antonon, 1000, Jundiaí, SP, CEP 13212-010, Brazil

    Cristina Harumi Adania, William Douglas de Carvalho & Jairo de Cassio Pereira

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Tropical, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Rod. Juscelino Kubitscheck, S/N, Macapá, AP, 68903-419, Brazil

    William Douglas de Carvalho

  3. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    William Douglas de Carvalho & Luís Miguel Rosalino

  4. CESAM & Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Luís Miguel Rosalino

  5. Centro de Pesquisa para a Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros–CENAP/ICMBIO, Atibaia, 12952-011, Brazil

    Peter G. Crawshaw Jr

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  1. Cristina Harumi Adania
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  2. William Douglas de Carvalho
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Correspondence to William Douglas de Carvalho.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.”

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Communicated by: Emerson M. Vieira

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Adania, C.H., de Carvalho, W.D., Rosalino, L.M. et al. First soft-release of a relocated puma in South America. Mamm Res 62, 121–128 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-016-0302-0

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