Predictors of Puma Occupancy Indicate Prey Vulnerability is More Important Than Prey Availability in a Highly Fragmented Landscape

Habitat fragmentation represents the single greatest conservation challenge of the 21st century. This problem is particularly acute for large, obligate carnivores like pumas Puma concolor which have persisted in North and South America in the face of habitat fragmentation and other anthropogenic disturbances. Shrinking habitat and reduced connectivity mean that mapping habitat is increasingly important for species conservation in multiple-use landscapes. Previous work suggests that pumas occupy habitats where sufficient stalking cover and preferred prey are present, yet the intersection of these factors has rarely been assessed. Here we used data from 68 299 camera trap nights collected from 181 sites throughout the San Francisco Bay Area over a four-year period to identify key predictors of habitat occupancy for pumas and their primary prey (mule deer Odocoileus hemionus). Our goal was to determine whether pumas occupy habitats based on relative measures of prey availability (detection frequency), or ease of predation (density of stalking cover) and whether these predictors changed between seasons. Our results indicated that pumas primarily occupied forested habitats and did not choose habitats with abundant deer. Instead, pumas preferentially occupy habitats that facilitate their stalk and ambush hunting strategy, rather than higher prey densities, per se. The best occupancy models for mule deer indicated the importance of roads and shrub cover. However, even the best deer models performed poorly compared to the puma models, likely due to the ubiquity of mule deer in the region. Although prey density is a widely accepted correlate of habitat quality for many carnivores, our results suggest that structural elements of habitat may be a more important variable in predicting habitat use by large stalk and ambush predators like pumas, which has important implications for conservation success

The tribal populations of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai (India): a brief political ecology

International audienc

The tribal populations of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai (India): a brief political ecology

International audienc

Conservation and Management of Leopards in Maharashtra: a Political Animal Geography

VirtualInternational audienceIt is now widely recognized that successful wildlife conservation and management needs to account for the socio-economic, cultural and political environments it is embedded within (Naughton-Treves and Treves 2005; Mascia et al. 2003; Treves & Karanth 2003). This recognition is coupled with recent calls to embrace the complexity of human behaviors in the management of human-wildlife interactions (Jochum et al. 2014) and to view animals as conservation actors (Jepson et al. 2011). In line with this perspective, this paper argues for the need to more deeply engage with animals as actors and the politics that surround wildlife management and conservation. Building from scholarships that advocate for approaches that more fully embrace the political processes and systems in which human and nonhumans live, interact, and influence one another (Hobson 2007, Srinavansan 2016, Karanth and Margulies 2018, Margulies & Bersaglio 2018), this paper proposes a combined approach of Animal Geographies and Political Ecology applied to the case of leopards in the Mumbai Region (India). This particular approach aims at re-framing these animals as political agents embedded within and influencing socio-economic, cultural and political environments. By doing so, this paper first discusses how the adaptation of leopards in dynamic and hybrid landscapes reveals their role as conservation actors and complicates management and conservation policies. By examining the direct and indirect politics of leopards conservation, this paper also illustrates how treating wildlife as political agents is crucial to a deeper understanding of the processes of power taking place between humans and wildlife

Conservation and Management of Leopards in Maharashtra: a Political Animal Geography

VirtualInternational audienceIt is now widely recognized that successful wildlife conservation and management needs to account for the socio-economic, cultural and political environments it is embedded within (Naughton-Treves and Treves 2005; Mascia et al. 2003; Treves & Karanth 2003). This recognition is coupled with recent calls to embrace the complexity of human behaviors in the management of human-wildlife interactions (Jochum et al. 2014) and to view animals as conservation actors (Jepson et al. 2011). In line with this perspective, this paper argues for the need to more deeply engage with animals as actors and the politics that surround wildlife management and conservation. Building from scholarships that advocate for approaches that more fully embrace the political processes and systems in which human and nonhumans live, interact, and influence one another (Hobson 2007, Srinavansan 2016, Karanth and Margulies 2018, Margulies & Bersaglio 2018), this paper proposes a combined approach of Animal Geographies and Political Ecology applied to the case of leopards in the Mumbai Region (India). This particular approach aims at re-framing these animals as political agents embedded within and influencing socio-economic, cultural and political environments. By doing so, this paper first discusses how the adaptation of leopards in dynamic and hybrid landscapes reveals their role as conservation actors and complicates management and conservation policies. By examining the direct and indirect politics of leopards conservation, this paper also illustrates how treating wildlife as political agents is crucial to a deeper understanding of the processes of power taking place between humans and wildlife

The agency of urban carnivores in human politics: leopards in Mumbai, India

International audienc

The agency of urban carnivores in human politics: leopards in Mumbai, India

International audienc

Conservation and Management of Leopards in Maharashtra: a Political Animal Geography

VirtualInternational audienceIt is now widely recognized that successful wildlife conservation and management needs to account for the socio-economic, cultural and political environments it is embedded within (Naughton-Treves and Treves 2005; Mascia et al. 2003; Treves & Karanth 2003). This recognition is coupled with recent calls to embrace the complexity of human behaviors in the management of human-wildlife interactions (Jochum et al. 2014) and to view animals as conservation actors (Jepson et al. 2011). In line with this perspective, this paper argues for the need to more deeply engage with animals as actors and the politics that surround wildlife management and conservation. Building from scholarships that advocate for approaches that more fully embrace the political processes and systems in which human and nonhumans live, interact, and influence one another (Hobson 2007, Srinavansan 2016, Karanth and Margulies 2018, Margulies & Bersaglio 2018), this paper proposes a combined approach of Animal Geographies and Political Ecology applied to the case of leopards in the Mumbai Region (India). This particular approach aims at re-framing these animals as political agents embedded within and influencing socio-economic, cultural and political environments. By doing so, this paper first discusses how the adaptation of leopards in dynamic and hybrid landscapes reveals their role as conservation actors and complicates management and conservation policies. By examining the direct and indirect politics of leopards conservation, this paper also illustrates how treating wildlife as political agents is crucial to a deeper understanding of the processes of power taking place between humans and wildlife

Conservation and Management of Leopards in Maharashtra: a Political Animal Geography

VirtualInternational audienceIt is now widely recognized that successful wildlife conservation and management needs to account for the socio-economic, cultural and political environments it is embedded within (Naughton-Treves and Treves 2005; Mascia et al. 2003; Treves & Karanth 2003). This recognition is coupled with recent calls to embrace the complexity of human behaviors in the management of human-wildlife interactions (Jochum et al. 2014) and to view animals as conservation actors (Jepson et al. 2011). In line with this perspective, this paper argues for the need to more deeply engage with animals as actors and the politics that surround wildlife management and conservation. Building from scholarships that advocate for approaches that more fully embrace the political processes and systems in which human and nonhumans live, interact, and influence one another (Hobson 2007, Srinavansan 2016, Karanth and Margulies 2018, Margulies & Bersaglio 2018), this paper proposes a combined approach of Animal Geographies and Political Ecology applied to the case of leopards in the Mumbai Region (India). This particular approach aims at re-framing these animals as political agents embedded within and influencing socio-economic, cultural and political environments. By doing so, this paper first discusses how the adaptation of leopards in dynamic and hybrid landscapes reveals their role as conservation actors and complicates management and conservation policies. By examining the direct and indirect politics of leopards conservation, this paper also illustrates how treating wildlife as political agents is crucial to a deeper understanding of the processes of power taking place between humans and wildlife

The agency of urban carnivores in human politics: leopards in Mumbai, India

International audienc