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1 December 2013 Apparent Adoption of Orphaned Cougars (Puma concolor) in Northwestern Wyoming
Travis D. Bartnick, Marilyn Cuthill, Derek Craighead, Howard B. Quigley
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Abstract

Cougars (Puma concolor) are widely distributed throughout the western portion of North America and are generally described as solitary carnivores. Most cougar social interactions have been described as instances of parental care, intraspecific strife, or breeding. We report an apparent case of an adoption of orphaned juveniles in a wild cougar population. We used radiotelemetry and direct visual observations to document an adult female, her 3 dependent offspring, and 2 orphaned juvenile males physically interacting, sharing bed sites, and sharing kills in the late winter of 2007/2008. We consider the potential benefits and/or negative effects of these social interactions, and the role that relatedness and/or familiarity may play in the motivation for developing such associations.

Travis D. Bartnick, Marilyn Cuthill, Derek Craighead, and Howard B. Quigley "Apparent Adoption of Orphaned Cougars (Puma concolor) in Northwestern Wyoming," Western North American Naturalist 74(1), 133-137, (1 December 2013). https://doi.org/10.3398/064.074.0115
Received: 3 April 2013; Accepted: 1 December 2013; Published: 1 December 2013
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