Yellowstone National Park is home to iconic predators like the gray wolf and the cougar. New research shows that while cougars do the dirty work of killing, wolves are stealing their prey out from under them. Cougars (Puma concolor) are learning to adapt by capturing smaller prey that are less enticing to the wolves (Canis lupus). In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers found that cougars tended to avoid areas where wolves were present with their kills. Cougars also stayed close to areas with climbable trees, where they could easily escape wolves if they needed to. As elk (Cervus canadensis) in Yellowstone National Park declined over time, cougars started killing deer, which are smaller than elk and stolen by wolves at one-sixth the rate of the larger ungulates.
While predators were nearly eradicated from the U.S. in the 20th century, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995. Meanwhile, both wolves and cougars are becoming more common throughout the American West, increasing opportunities for conflict between the two species. The study also found while wolves sometimes killed cougars, cougars did not kill wolves. “In North America and worldwide, carnivore communities are undergoing major changes,” said Wesley Binder, a doctoral student at Oregon State University and lead author of the study, in a press release. “Our research provides insight into how two apex predators compete, which informs recovery efforts.”
