The ecology of human-caused mortality for a protected large carnivore

Authors

John F. Benson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kyle D. Dougherty, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Paul Beier, Center for Large Landscape Conservation
Walter M. Boyce, University of California, Davis
Bogdan Cristescu, University of California, Santa Cruz
Daniel J. Gammons, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
David K. Garcelon, Institute for Wildlife Studies
J. Mark Higley, Hoopa Tribal Council
Quinton E. Martins, Audubon Canyon Ranch
Anna C. Nisi, University of California, Santa Cruz
Seth P. D. Riley, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Jeff A. Sikich, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Thomas R. Stephenson, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
T. Winston Vickers, University of California, Davis
Greta M. Wengert, Integral Ecology Research Center
Christopher C. Wilmers, University of California, Santa Cruz
Heiko U. Wittmer, Victoria University of Wellington
Justin A. Dellinger, Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2-15-2023

Citation

PNAS 2023 Vol. 120 No. 13. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220030120

Comments

Used by permission.

Abstract

Mitigating human-caused mortality for large carnivores is a pressing global challenge for wildlife conservation. However, mortality is almost exclusively studied at local (within-population) scales creating a mismatch between our understanding of risk and the spatial extent most relevant to conservation and management of wide-ranging species. Here, we quantified mortality for 590 radio-collared mountain lions statewide across their distribution in California to identify drivers of human-caused mortality and investigate whether human-caused mortality is additive or compensatory. Human-caused mortality, primarily from conflict management and vehicles, exceeded natural mortality despite mountain lions being protected from hunting. Our data indicate that human-caused mortality is additive to natural mortality as population-level survival decreased as a function of increasing human-caused mortality and natural mortality did not decrease with increased human-caused mortality. Mortality risk increased for mountain lions closer to rural development and decreased in areas with higher proportions of citizens voting to support environmental initiatives. Thus, the presence of human infrastructure and variation in the mindset of humans sharing landscapes with mountain lions appear to be primary drivers of risk. We show that human-caused mortality can reduce population-level survival of large carnivores across large spatial scales, even when they are protected from hunting.