Oldest Puma Ever?

Our newest puma on the Santa Cruz Puma Project, 126m, may be the oldest puma we have ever caught.

126m

One method of aging pumas is to look at tooth wear. White, sharp teeth are an indication of youth, with teeth becoming worn down and yellowing with age. But we have never seen a puma with teeth this worn down.

Grad Student Position Available

We are looking for a graduate student to join our lab in Fall of 2022. The student will develop and implement a statewide camera trap network to assess the population trends in the carnivore community in Illinois. This position includes a 50% research assistantship (~approximately 25k a year) and covers full tuition through the Natural Resources and Environmental Science (NRES) Department.

Full details: Camera Trap Job Posting

New Puma 123F

Last night we caught a new puma, a young female in great condition. For the project, we named her 123F, indicating she is the 123rd individual we have captured for the project.

Caching by Bears

In our new paper just published in Ursus we documented two species of black bears caching food, including the first documentation of caching by Asiatic black bears. We also performed a literature review and found caching was most frequent in brown bears and most often occurred with large prey. Caching likely protects large carcasses from spoiling, allowing bears to consume more of the food.

Lures for Carnivores

We’re excited to see Alex’s first chapter published in Ecosphere!

We used a rigorous experimental design to determine how the use of different lures affects the detection of different species when surveying the carnivore guild.

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