Wild Boar Introduction Might Result in the Selection of Larger Pumas in Central-South Brazil
摘要
The introduction of wild boars in Central-South Brazil resulted in many environmental impacts, including damage to biotic and abiotic components of natural environments and agroecosystems, as well as hazards to livestock production, and risks to humans. As adult wild boars can reach up to 200 kg they can alter the local food web, as both the predators of small vertebrates and invertebrates, and the possible prey of large predators. As a matter of fact, as wild boars got widespread, we started to detect pumas’ tracks near tracks of wild boar females and offspring in our field station in Central-South Brazil. More recently we started to detect piglets’ hairs and bones in pumas’ scats, which suggests a learning process by local pumas to such novel prey. The combination of predator skills and body size plasticity might result on a selection of larger pumas in Central-South Brazil, including areas under relatively high human population in suburban areas and intensively managed agricultural landscapes. These questions are discussed in this chapter.