Human‐wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are one of the most critical conservation challenges worldwide. Large carnivores are frequently at the centre of these conflicts because of the perceived and real threats they pose to livestock and human safety. Determining social perceptions and attitudes towards carnivores plays a vital role in shaping conservation policies that ensure the sustainable coexistence of humans and wildlife. We conducted structured interviews with livestock ranchers in the proposed Torres del Paine UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Chilean Patagonia) in 2011 and 2018. We recorded information regarding their perceptions of puma presence, the potential danger pumas pose to livestock, livestock losses, and the need to control puma populations. We predicted puma distributions in both periods using MaxEnt to determine whether predicted puma presence explained ranchers' perceptions of pumas or any change in their perceptions over the course of the study. Puma distribution models predicted that the puma has expanded across the study area and that the likelihood of puma relative abundance within ranches increased over time. Despite this, ranchers did not change their perceptions of puma abundance or the losses they suffer from puma predation. Neither did they feel an increased need to manage the puma population. Furthermore, ranchers reported an increase in the perception that pumas are a threat to livestock in the second study period, but this perception was not linked to the likelihood of puma presence. We found a mismatch between the actual probability of puma presence and ranchers' perceptions, which remained mostly unchanged, suggesting that there are underlying social factors driving their perceptions about puma –livestock conflict regardless of actual puma presence and the losses they experience. Synthesis and applications . Results show that ranchers' perceptions are at odds with actual patterns of puma distribution. However, the increased perceived risks associated with puma's expansion would likely increase reported HWC. Given that the study area is home to what may be the densest puma population reported, and that some ranches benefit from puma‐related tourism, while others bear the costs of increasing pumas in the region, the socioecological situation may be a conservation conundrum about to boil. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Physical and genetic isolation are recognized as significant threats to wildlife, especially in large carnivores inhabiting fragmented landscapes. We conducted an initial genetic assessment of pumas (Puma concolor) using 19 microsatellite loci for the emblematic puma population in the Torres del Paine UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in southernmost Chile, which exhibits some distinctive phenology that some local people speculate may be due to isolation and inbreeding depression. We extracted DNA from 385 scats collected in the field, of which 96 were identified as puma, representing 20 unique individuals. Torres del Paine pumas exhibited an H_o (0.51) only slightly lower than H_e (0.53), with 2 of the 19 loci significantly out of Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium. Tests for a recent bottleneck of the population were not significant. The small sample size of individuals notwithstanding, these results seemingly do not support high levels of inbreeding. We also identified individual pumas in the field and assessed them for observable cowlicks (twirls of fur on their backs), a trait some have associated with genetic inbreeding depression in other puma populations. A total of 7 of 39 pumas exhibited cowlicks, consistent with geographic patterns of cowlicks within the species. Our tests exploring population structure among local pumas provided the most support for a single-population cluster, but we explored secondary structures as well, given its conservation implications. We encourage additional sampling in the region to further explore population structure and connectivity and determine the conservation status of the region’s pumas to guide the development of best strategies to ensure their persistence.

Texas hosts approximately seven percent of the United States of America’s mountain lion (Puma concolor) population, although this estimate might be high due to their non-game status and lack of regulation. In August 2022, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) rejected a petition to change state mountain lion policy and established a stakeholder working group to evaluate potential management strategies. Here, we synthesised survey data collected from 740 Texas residents on their knowledge and attitudes about mountain lions and their regional management that is immediately relevant to the ongoing decisions being made by the Mountain Lion Working Group, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, the state-wide mountain lion management plan working group and TPWD more generally. Overall, Texans correctly reported that mountain lions are rare in Texas, but misreported that they are protected. Generally, participants were positive about mountain lions and supported their management. Hunters and livestock producers expressed more positive attitudes for mountain lions and their management than did non-hunters and people who did not own livestock. In contrast to previous research on support for carnivore conservation, we did not detect any differences in responses between rural and urban residents. Together, these data suggest that the traditional constituents of TPWD (i.e. hunters and livestock owners) are supportive of policies that have been proposed for inclusion in a state management plan for the species, such as mandatory reporting of any mountain lion killed for any purpose. Our results highlight the importance of TPWD’s prioritisation of public outreach and education targeting a greater diversity of Texans to: 1) mitigate the perceptions of risks and/or costs associated with mountain lions; 2) increase public knowledge about mountain lions and their management and 3) foster greater trust in natural resource governance to prevent disengagement by the public.