Energy spent avoiding humans associated with smaller home ranges for male pumas
A new paper from UC Santa Cruz researchers, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that fear of humans causes mountain lions to increase their energy expenditures as they move through the landscape, and this can ultimately limit the size of the home ranges they're able to maintain. "Mountain lions fear us, and that fear has all kinds of impacts on their behavior and ecology, and ultimately, potentially even their populations and conservation," said professor Chris Wilmers, the senior author on the paper. Wilmers is principal investigator for the Santa Cruz Pum...
Source: eurekalert.org