The aim of this research was to analyse the variability of parasite assemblages on a small spatial scale, by examining carnivore coprolites from the archaeological site Campo Moncada 2 (CM2), Piedra Parada area, Chubut province, Argentina, and comparing the results with those previously obtained from the archaeological site Campo Cerda 1 (CCe1), located in the same area. Six carnivore coprolites from CM2 were analysed: 4 obtained in sub-level 2a and 2 obtained in sub-level 2a/b. Two radiocarbon dates associated with the coprolites placed the samples chronologically between 780 ± 80 and 860 ± 80 years before present. The rehydrated sediments were sieved and then allowed to sediment spontaneously. The sediment was used for parasitological examination under light microscopy. Conservative estimation of total parasite richness resulted in 21 parasitic taxa. The taxa with the highest fecal prevalence (>50%) corresponded to parasites prevalent in modern carnivores (Alaria sp., Toxocara cf. canis, Toxascaris sp., Eucoleus cf. aerophila, Trichuris sp. and Ancylostomatidae gen. sp.). Assuming that the fox coprolites are contemporaneous, the total fecal parasite richness estimated for CM2 and previously for CCe1 was similar. The high total parasite richness found suggests a network of host–parasite relationships that could include regional hunter-gatherers. The results obtained in carnivore coprolites allow us to infer a very diverse biological community in Piedra Parada area, so the regional caves and rockshelters could have a proportional epidemiological importance as parasite exchange nodes.

As natural habitats continue to shrink in Kenya's Amboseli Ecosystem, livestock depredation by lions Panthera leo threatens both the livelihoods of pastoralist communities and the lion populations affected by retaliatory killings. Finding ways for people and carnivores to coexist at the landscape scale is crucial to the long-term persistence of many threatened animal populations. The fortification of existing traditional bomas to make them predator-proof reduces night-time depredation of livestock. However, the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of such an initiative rely on boma owners taking responsibility for the upkeep and repair of their bomas. In August 2018 we surveyed 88 predator-proof bomas constructed during 2012–2018 and recorded their characteristics and levels of damage. We examined which variables influence disrepair, using a series of statistical analyses, including generalized linear mixed models. Our results reveal there was more disrepair in bomas constructed with wooden posts, confirming the benefit of using recycled plastic posts; in bomas with lower livestock density, suggesting that fewer animals could cause more damage or that such damage is not repaired; and in bomas located further away from a neighbouring predator-proof boma, suggesting a social element in encouraging or enabling boma owners to carry out maintenance. We recommend the consideration and further investigation of this social influence in guiding and improving the sustainability of conservation programmes that use predator-proof bomas, with a view to reducing negative interactions between pastoralists and lions.

A paleontological deposit near San Clemente de Térapa represents one of the very few Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age sites within Sonora, Mexico. During that time, grasslands were common, and the climate included cooler and drier summers and wetter winters than currently experienced in northern Mexico. Here, we demonstrate restructuring in the mammalian community associated with environmental change over the past 40,000 years at Térapa. The fossil community has a similar number of carnivores and herbivores whereas the modern community consists mostly of carnivores. There was also a 97% decrease in mean body size (from 289 kg to 9 kg) because of the loss of megafauna. We further provide an updated review of ungulates and carnivores, recognizing two distinct morphotypes of Equus, including E. scotti and a slighter species; as well as Platygonus compressus; Camelops hesternus; Canis dirus; and Lynx rufus; and the first regional records of Palaeolama mirifica, Procyon lotor, and Smilodon cf. S. fatalis. The Térapa mammals presented here provide a more comprehensive understanding of the faunal community restructuring that occurred in northern Mexico from the late Pleistocene to present day, indicating further potential biodiversity loss with continued warming and drying of the region.

The eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, a global biodiversity hotspot, is threatened by habitat degradation. Conservation actions are required in this region, but limited knowledge of large and medium-sized mammals is hampering conservation planning. Using 149 camera traps, we surveyed large and medium-sized mammals in Xionglongxi Provincial Nature Reserve and adjacent areas, on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, during September 2016–May 2017. We obtained 5,752 independent captures of 29 large and medium-sized mammal species, including 13 that are globally threatened and 22 that are nationally threatened in China. Carnivores were especially diverse, with 16 species recorded. Of particular significance was our detection of seven felid species, including the leopard Panthera pardus and the snow leopard Panthera uncia. Our record of the Chinese mountain cat Felis bieti extends the known range of this species. We documented new upper elevation limits for eight species. There was elevational overlap between the leopard and the snow leopard, suggesting potential competition between the two species. The grey wolf Canis lupus and the leopard were the dominant predators, and the woolly hare Lepus oiostolus and several species of ungulates were the most frequently photographed prey species. The study area maintains a significant community of large and medium-sized mammals, which is more diverse than in other areas on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. We recommend the establishment of a larger nature reserve of national protection status in the region of the Xionglongxi Provincial Nature Reserve, to protect the unique subalpine and alpine ecosystems in this area.

With human influences driving populations of apex predators into decline, more information is required on how factors affect species at national and global scales. However, camera-trap studies are seldom executed at a broad spatial scale. We demonstrate how uniting fine-scale studies and utilizing camera-trap data of non-target species is an effective approach for broadscale assessments through a case study of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea. We collated camera-trap data from 25 protected and unprotected sites across South Africa into the largest detection/non-detection dataset collected on the brown hyaena, and investigated the influence of biological and anthropogenic factors on brown hyaena occupancy. Spatial autocorrelation had a significant effect on the data, and was corrected using a Bayesian Gibbs sampler. We show that brown hyaena occupancy is driven by specific co-occurring apex predator species and human disturbance. The relative abundance of spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta and people on foot had a negative effect on brown hyaena occupancy, whereas the relative abundance of leopards Panthera pardus and vehicles had a positive influence. We estimated that brown hyaenas occur across 66% of the surveyed camera-trap station sites. Occupancy varied geographically, with lower estimates in eastern and southern South Africa. Our findings suggest that brown hyaena conservation is dependent upon a multi-species approach focussed on implementing conservation policies that better facilitate coexistence between people and hyaenas. We also validate the conservation value of pooling fine-scale datasets and utilizing bycatch data to examine species trends at broad spatial scales.

We tested for plague (Yersinia pestis) in a puma population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) over 9 years, overlapping a case when a boy in the area became infected with plague. Antibodies to Y. pestis were detected in 8 of 17 (47%) pumas tested by complement-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the organism itself was detected in 4 of 11 (36%) pumas tested after necropsy. Neither puma sex nor age was significantly associated with Y. pestis exposure or mortality, although our sample size was small. The overall prevalence of exposure we recorded was similar to that found along the western slope of Colorado, which is adjacent to the Four Corners region, a known plague hotspot in the USA. This suggests that: (1) Y. pestis may be present at higher levels in the GYE than previously assumed; (2) plague is a significant source of mortality for local pumas (6.6% of sub-adult and adult mortality); and (3) pumas may be a useful sentinel for potential risk of plague exposure to humans throughout the West. We would also emphasize that hunters and others handling pumas in this region should be made aware of the possibility of exposure.

Carnivores play an important role in ecosystem functioning as apex predators. However, most carnivore species are threatened or have been extirpated in human-dominated landscapes. The Mediterranean region of central Chile is a biodiversity hotspot, but expansion of agricultural areas such as vineyards is degrading wildlife habitat. We estimated the species richness and composition of carnivore communities in remnant fragments of sclerophyllous forest-shrubland in the vineyard landscapes of central Chile to evaluate the effects of human disturbance at different spatial scales. We tested two hypotheses: (1) vineyard landscapes with higher levels of human disturbance support a lower diversity of native carnivores in fragments of remnant native vegetation compared to landscapes with larger areas of natural habitat, and (2) habitat specialists and generalists respond differentially to human influence at the habitat vs landscape spatial scale. We used camera traps at 12 sites across the study area and evaluated the impact of human disturbance indicators on the richness and detection frequency of carnivore species. We found that human population density negatively affected carnivore richness and was associated with a lower detection frequency of the Vulnerable guiña Leopardus guigna. The presence of domestic dogs also had a negative effect on the detection frequency of the guiña and the two native species of foxes, the culpeo Lycalopex culpaeus and South American grey fox Lycalopex griseus. We conclude that protecting remnants of native forest in vineyard landscapes is crucial for carnivore conservation in central Chile.

The random encounter model, a method for estimating animal density using camera traps without the need for individual recognition, has been developed over the past decade. A key assumption of this model is that cameras are placed randomly in relation to animal movements, requiring that cameras are not set only at sites thought to have high animal traffic. The aim of this study was to define a correction factor that allows the random encounter model to be applied in photo-trapping surveys in which cameras are placed along tracks to maximize capture probability. Our hypothesis was that applying such a correction factor would compensate for the different rates at which lynxes use tracks and the surrounding area, and should thus improve the estimates obtained with the random encounter model. We tested this using data from a well-known Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus population. Firstly, we estimated Iberian lynx densities using a traditional camera-trapping design followed by spatially explicit capture–recapture analyses. We estimated the differential use rate for tracks vs the surrounding area using data from a lynx equipped with a GPS collar, and subsequently calculated the correction factor. As expected, the random encounter model overestimated densities by 378%. However, the application of the correction factor improved the estimate and reduced the error to 16%. Although there are limitations to the application of the correction factor, the corrected random encounter model shows potential for density estimation of species for which individual identification is not possible.

Negative interactions between people and large carnivores are common and will probably increase as the human population and livestock production continue to expand. Livestock predation by wild carnivores can significantly affect the livelihoods of farmers, resulting in retaliatory killings and subsequent conflicts between local communities and conservationists. A better understanding of livestock predation patterns could help guide measures to improve both human relationships and coexistence with carnivores. Environmental variables can influence the intensity of livestock predation, are relatively easy to monitor, and could potentially provide a useful predictive framework for targeting mitigation. We chose lion predation of livestock as a model to test whether variations in environmental conditions trigger changes in predation. Analysing 6 years of incident reports for Pandamatenga village in Botswana, an area of high human–lion conflict, we used generalized linear models to show that significantly more attacks coincided with lower moonlight levels and temperatures, and attack severity increased significantly with extreme minimum temperatures. Furthermore, we found a delayed effect of rainfall: lower rainfall was followed by a significantly increased severity of attacks in the following month. Our results suggest that preventative measures, such as introducing deterrents or changing livestock management, could be implemented adaptively based on environmental conditions. This could be a starting point for investigating similar effects in other large carnivores, to reduce livestock attacks and work towards wider human–wildlife coexistence.

The pervasive influence of human agency on biodiversity in the Anthropocene gives rise to several new challenges for national and international wildlife law, including questions regarding what is natural and what is alien. Ultimately, a new vision and new rules are called for but in the meantime wildlife lawyers and other conservation professionals must work with conventional legal frameworks. Striking instances where vexing issues arise are the recent range expansions of certain canids. Coyotes Canis latrans and crab-eating foxes Cerdocyon thous in the Americas and golden jackals Canis aureus in Europe are progressively colonizing areas and countries where they did not previously occur. A key question is whether to consider this as acceptable extensions of natural range or whether the pioneering carnivores should be viewed as alien species, potentially triggering legal obligations of prevention, control and eradication. In addressing this question we draw on guidance provided under the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international legal frameworks, in which governments are forced to grapple with the application of long-standing concepts to new phenomena in an era of profound global change. Our analysis suggests that coyotes in Costa Rica, crab-eating foxes in Panama, and golden jackals in the Netherlands are not to be considered alien species, whether invasive or not. Thus, even if action to address adverse impacts by these canids on native biodiversity may sometimes be desirable, these species are not subject to legal requirements to combat invasive alien species.

Carnivore conservation depends on people's willingness to implement management practices to reduce threats to carnivores and mitigate conflicts between carnivores and domestic animals. We assessed the willingness of rural communities in central-southern Chile to (1) conserve carnivores, and (2) adopt management practices to reduce predation of domestic animals, a key factor triggering carnivore–human conflicts in rural areas. The study focused on five carnivores: the chilla Lycalopex griseus, the culpeo Lycalopex culpaeus, Darwin's fox Lycalopex fulvipes, the guiña or kodkod Leopardus guigna, and the puma Puma concolor. We found that rural communities perceived that threats towards carnivores rarely occurr in their region, contrary to the literature on this subject; people's attitudes differed depending on the carnivore; and people were willing to adopt management practices to help conserve carnivores (e.g. overnight protection of domestic animals and investment in infrastructure for henhouses and cowsheds), except leashing dogs. The willingness to conserve carnivores and adopt practices that would help do so may be associated with how these measures affect people's well-being. Although rural communities would like carnivores to be conserved, this cannot be achieved unless some pivotal practices, such as management of domestic dogs, are adopted by these communities. For successful biodiversity conservation outcomes in human-dominated landscapes, the social incentives necessary for rural communities to adopt appropriate management practices must be identified and implemented.

Although protected areas are the basis for many conservation efforts they are rarely of an adequate size for the long-term survival of populations of large, wide-roaming mammals. In the Maasai Mara, Kenya, communally owned wildlife conservancies have been developed to expand the area available for wildlife. As these continue to develop it is important to ensure that the areas chosen are beneficial to wildlife. Using presence data for cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus, elephants Loxodonta africana, spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta, leopards Panthera pardus, lions Panthera leo and wild dogs Lycaon pictus, collected through interviews with 648 people living outside protected areas, we identify key wildlife areas using false positive site-occupancy modelling. The probabilities of site use were first determined per species based on habitat, distance to protected area, human presence and rivers, and these probabilities were then combined to create a map to highlight key wildlife areas. All species, except hyaenas, preferred sites closer to the protected areas but site use varied by species depending on habitat type. All six species avoided human presence. Leopards, elephants, lions and wild dogs preferred sites closer to rivers. The resulting combined map highlights areas that could potentially benefit from conservation efforts, including the expansion of wildlife areas, and areas where human development, such as a newly tarmacked road, could have an impact on wildlife.

Prey seek to minimize predation risk by moving across the landscape in search of safer areas. Yet, these movements are associated with risks that depend on the intrinsic attributes of the species involved. We evaluated the effect of presence of an apex predator (Puma concolor) on the composition of a community of medium and large-bodied terrestrial mammal species in 23 forest fragments in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, based on overnight footprint surveys over 2 y. We tested if (1) presence of the puma decreases species richness (prey and mesopredator), (2) landscape features interact with puma effects, altering the composition and richness of prey, (3) darker nights strengthen the predation risk effects of puma and (4) this effect can vary among prey species. The puma reduced the richness of prey species by ~45% and presence of mesopredator by 11%. Larger forest fragments and darker nights strengthened the effects of puma on the mammal community. Most prey species showed negative associations with the apex predator, while others were unaffected or showed a positive association. These results add new knowledge about the effects of predation risk and of the landscape characteristics on the composition of the mammal community and the behaviour of different species. Furthermore, our results indicate that medium and large mammals live in a landscape of fear in Neotropical forest remnants.

Changes in vegetative cover and land use in the southern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico, were identified by analysing satellite images from 2001 and 2014. Fluctuations in population density of mammal species during 2001–2016 in response to these changes were analysed. During 2001–2014 the types of land use that increased in area (per year) were prescribed burning (uncontrolled burning caused by humans) by 105.11 ha, seasonal agricultural plots by 58.14 ha, areas without vegetation by 24.54 ha, and human settlements by 4.13 ha. In the same period, savannahs decreased by 103.94 ha, tropical dry forest by 39.5 ha, secondary forests by 14.46 ha, and human-induced grassland by 0.13 ha per year. The loss of these habitats resulted in low population densities of mammals, including the eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus and the Tehuantepec jackrabbit Lepus flavigularis, which is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. We recommend establishing a communal ecological reserve in the study area to implement appropriate management strategies for grassland communities and develop a programme of semi-captive breeding to conserve L. flavigularis.

Despite increasing support for conservation efforts, humans exert strong negative forces on nature and disagree over the management of these effects. Conflicts over conservation policy may reflect evolving opinions about how people ought to conserve species and whether to intervene in various processes. To understand public preferences for conservation in the USA, we measured support for various strategies in five case studies, where we pitted one species against another in simplified but realistic scenarios. Among our online convenience sample of 1040 participants, we found the majority of participants favoured habitat protection in all but one case, and there was little acceptance of lethal control across all cases. The results reveal that habitat protection preferences positively relate to considerations of moral principles and ecosystems and negatively relate to economic and practical considerations. Older, conservative and male participants were less likely to support habitat protection and more likely to support no action. The results suggest broad support for holistic nature conservation that benefits both people and nature and highlight areas where current wildlife management may not align with public preferences. Controversy may continue until wildlife management policies are consistent with societal values and address moral and ecosystem considerations at multiple levels.

Using carbon and oxygen isotopic relationships from dental enamel, diet and habitat were inferred for both mesomammals and megamammals that lived in Cedral (San Luis Potosi, north-central México) during Late Pleistocene time. δ13C and δ18O values show that bison, some horses and mammoth were eating C4 plants and lived in open areas, while tapir, camel and some llamas ate C3 plants and inhabited closed areas. All other studied herbivores (pronghorn, glyptodont, mylodont ground sloth, javelina, mastodon, and other llamas, horses and mammoth) had a C3/C4 mixed diet, living in areas with some percentage of tree coverage. On the other hand, American lion and dire wolf ate either C4 or mixed-diet herbivores, and short-faced bear ate C3 herbivores. At Cedral, more humid conditions existed than presently, allowing the presence of a forested area near the grassland.

As part of a landscape-scale programme for conserving tigers Panthera tigris the Khata corridor was established between Bardia National Park in Nepal and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India in early 2000. We examined its functionality by comparing the status of tigers and prey in the corridor and in the adjacent National Park, using camera trapping, transect sampling and diet analysis of scats. Tiger movement was inferred from the photographs, and tiger–human conflict was assessed by means of questionnaires and interviews. The corridor harboured transient individuals as well as resident, breeding tigers. Tigers with core areas in the corridor were also recorded in the two protected areas, and vice versa. Wild prey was 3–4 times more abundant in the area of the National Park bordering the corridor than in the corridor itself, and domestic livestock constituted 12–15% of the tigers’ food in the corridor. Livestock losses and human fatalities or injuries were relatively low compared to within the buffer zones of the National Parks. Despite such problems and restrictions on grazing and extraction of natural resources, local residents were generally positive towards tigers and the corridor. The successful establishment of the corridor and the positive attitudes of local people were attributable to community development programmes initiated to compensate for the imposed restrictions, financed by the government and national and international organizations. By linking Bardia National Park and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary via the Khata corridor, a protected tiger landscape of c. 3,000 km2 was established in west-central Nepal and northern India.

Carnivores are valued by conservationists globally but protecting them can impose direct costs on rural, livestock-dependent communities. Financial incentives are increasingly used with the goal of increasing people's tolerance of predators, but the definition of tolerance has been vague and inconsistent. Empirical correlations between attitudinal and behavioural measures of tolerance imply that attitudes may be a valid proxy for behaviours. However, theoretical differences between the concepts suggest that attitudinal tolerance and behavioural intention to kill cats would have different underlying determinants. We surveyed 112 residents within a forest–farm mosaic in northern Belize inhabited by jaguars Panthera onca and four other species of wild cats. A conservation payment programme pays local landowners when camera traps record cat presence on their land. Results indicated that tolerance was associated with gender and participation in the camera-trapping programme, whereas intention to kill cats was associated with cultural group (Mennonites vs Mestizos), presence of children in the home and, to a lesser extent, tolerance. Neither dependent variable was significantly related to depredation losses or economic factors. Results suggest that monetary payments alone are unlikely to affect attitudes and behaviours towards carnivores. Payment programmes may be enhanced by accentuating non-monetary incentives, leveraging social norms and targeting specific groups with information about risks and benefits associated with carnivores. By empirically separating two concepts commonly conflated as ‘tolerance’ we clarify understanding of how social forces interact with financial incentives to shape people's relationships with predators.

Bartonella infection was explored in wild animals from Israel. Golden jackals (Canis aureus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), southern white-breasted hedgehogs (Erinaceus concolor), social voles (Microtus socialis), Tristram's jirds (Meriones tristrami), Cairo spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus), house mice (Mus musculus) and Indian crested porcupines (Hystrix indica) were sampled and screened by molecular and isolation methods. Bartonella-DNA was detected in 46 animals: 9/70 (13%) golden jackals, 2/11 (18%) red foxes, 3/35 (9%) rock hyraxes, 1/3 (33%) southern white-breasted hedgehogs, 5/57 (9%) Cairo spiny mice, 25/43 (58%) Tristram's jirds and 1/6 (16%) house mice. Bartonella rochalimae and B. rochalimae-like were widespread among jackals, foxes, hyraxes and jirds. This report represents the first detection of this zoonotic Bartonella sp. in rock hyraxes and golden jackals. Moreover, DNA of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, Bartonella acomydis, Candidatus Bartonella merieuxii and other uncharacterized genotypes were identified. Three different Bartonella strains were isolated from Tristram's jirds, and several genotypes were molecularly detected from these animals. Furthermore, this study reports the first detection of Bartonella infection in a southern hedgehog. Our study indicates that infection with zoonotic and other Bartonella species is widespread among wild animals and stresses their potential threat to public health.