Burgas Albert, Amit Ronit, Lopez Bernat C
Rev Biol Trop. 2014 Dec;62(4):1459-67. doi: 10.15517/rbt.v62i4.13199.
Abstract: Attacks by big cats on livestock are one of the major causes of human-felid conflicts and, therefore, an important factor in the conservation of these species. It has been argued that a reduction in natural prey abundance promotes attacks on domestic species, but few studies have tested this statement, and some have delivered contradictory results. We investigated whether the occurrence of attacks to livestock by jaguar and puma relates to the abundance and richness of their natural prey. In the rainy season 2009, we tracked potential prey species counting signs of presence along linear transects in 14 non-attacked cattle farms (control) and in 14 attacked cattle farms in NW Costa Rica. There was a negative relationship between the occurrence of attacks and both species richness (p = 0.0014) and abundance (p = 0.0012) of natural prey. Our results support the establishment of actions to promote support and recovery of natural prey, in order to diminish attacks on livestock, while maintaining jaguar and puma populations.
大型猫科动物对家畜的攻击是人类与猫科动物冲突的主要原因之一，因此也是这些物种保护中的一个重要因素。有人认为，自然猎物数量的减少会促使对家畜的攻击，但很少有研究验证这一说法，而且一些研究得出了相互矛盾的结果。我们调查了美洲豹和美洲狮对家畜的攻击事件是否与它们自然猎物的数量和丰富度有关。在2009年雨季，我们在哥斯达黎加西北部14个未受攻击的养牛场（对照）和14个受攻击的养牛场沿着线性样带追踪潜在猎物物种，统计其存在迹象。攻击事件的发生与自然猎物的物种丰富度（p = 0.0014）和数量（p = 0.0012）均呈负相关。我们的研究结果支持采取行动来促进自然猎物的支持和恢复，以减少对家畜的攻击，同时维持美洲豹和美洲狮的种群数量。
