ÿþWe used extensive camera-trap surveys puma slides to study interindividual interactions among individually recognizable jaguars ( Panthern onca ) and plain-colored pumas ( Puma concolor ). Timed location data from a network of 119 trap stations in the Cockscomb Basin of Belize provide the 1st evidence of interspecific avoidance calibrated against intraspecific interactions among jaguars. Camera trapping has advantages over radiotelemetry in its potential to provide data on the complete array of individuals within the study area.
Apart from their overall spatial similarities, jaguars and pumas avoided using the same location at the same time. This interspecific segregation was detectable over and above the spatial and temporal segregation of individual jaguars.Usamos muestreos intensivos de cámaras-trampa para estudiar las interacciones inter-individuales entre individuos identificados de jaguar ( Panthera onca ) puma fenty y puma ( Puma concolor ). Datos de ubicaciones temporales de una red de 119 estaciones de trampeo en la cuenca del Cockscomb en Belice proporcionó la primera evidencia de que ambas especies se evitan espacialmente, datos que fueron calibrados con la información fenty by puma de las interacciones intraespecíficas de los jaguares.
Los patrones de actividad nocturna de jaguares y pumas fueron similares. Ambas especies usaron hábitats similares en la cuenca del Cockscomb, indicado por una alta correlación en las tasas de captura por sitio entre las especies. A pesar de estos patrones, los jaguares y pumas evitaron usar el mismo sitio al mismo tiempo. Esta segregación interespecífica fue detectada sobre la segregación espacial y temporal de los individuos de jaguar.Felid social systems have been characterized as solitary with puma thunder spectra exclusive territories within the sexes ( Sunquist and Sunquist 2002 ).
However, the mechanisms of sympatric coexistence of jaguars and pumas elude such distinctions. Diet studies have shown overlap in food selection across their range, making them potential competitors ( Crawshaw and Quigley 2002 ; Emmons 1987 ; Leite and Galvão 2002 ; Novack et al. 2005 ; Núñez et al. 2000 ; Scognamillo et al. 2003 ; Taber et al. 1997 ). Despite the dietary overlap, no evidence has been found of differentiated patterns of habitat use or activity ( Scognamillo et al. 2003 ). Camera-trap studies have compared jaguar and puma densities between multiple sites in Bolivia and Belize, showing that both cats thrive in similar habitat types across their range ( Noss et al. 2006 ).
These components of behavior were sampled more representatively than is possible with telemetry by using an array of more than 100 camera stations. Camera puma football boots traps were placed on established and newly opened trails traversing the dense forest matrix. These trails are the major corridors of travel for both jaguars and pumas, and individuals present within the immediate area of a camera are reliably caught on camera ( Harmsen 2006 ; Maffei et al. 2004 ; Rabinowitz and Nottingham 1986 ). Additional high-density camera arrays sampling small areas (10 km 2 ) on and off trails showed that off-trail photographs of jaguars were accompanied in 95% of the instances by on-trail photographs of the same individuals on the same day ( Harmsen 2006 ).