Spatial ecology of cougars (Puma concolor) in the Cypress Hills: Implications for human-cougar interactions and range expansion

• Author / Creator

  Morrison, Carl D

• Cougar (Puma concolor) range is expanding eastward in North America.
  Understanding how range expansion is occurring in a human-dominated
  landscape is needed to manage the social and ecological implications of a
  returning large carnivore. To address this, I used GPS-radio collars and remote
  cameras to study the habitat and movement ecology of an isolated and recently reestablished
  population of cougars in the Cypress Hills in southwest Saskatchewan
  and southeast Alberta, Canada. I found that cougars avoided high human-use
  areas during seasonal peaks in human activity but used these areas according to
  their availability when human activity was lower. During transience, sub-adult
  cougars adopted fast-paced nocturnal movements to traverse large stretches of
  unsuitable (matrix) habitat. The cougar’s adaptability to changes in human
  activity, together with their dispersal capability, will facilitate greater eastward
  range expansion. This could potentially restore important components of
  ecosystem structure and function to areas currently devoid of large carnivores.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Cypress Hills
  • Resource selection function
  • Puma concolor
  • Cougar
  • Movements
  • Mountain lion
  • Space use
  • Dispersal
  • Range expansion
  • Habitat selection
  • Spatial ecology
  • Human-cougar interaction

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3ZQ3X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.