The "Puma of the Pampas" Project
from its begining in 2009 to 2020
A first attempt to understand the situation of pumas in the Pampas.
Sierra de la Ventana, 1990.
While the "Puma de las Pampas" project officially began in 2009, it was actually conceived in 1990. That year, a campaign was carried out in the Ventania System, in the south of the Buenos Aires province, with the aim of determining if the puma was present in those mountain ranges, considered by Yepes and Cabrera (1940) as the last stronghold of the species in the Pampas district. Interviews conducted in the town of Sierra de la Ventana with a rural veterinarians, some producers, hunters, and even a butcher (generally, in these towns, there is a close relationship between workers of this industry and hunters) revealed that in the early 1970s, after a long absence of more than 40 years, pumas had reappeared in these mountains, apparently escaping from tremendous fires that had occurred in the caldén forests (Prosopis caldenia) in the neighboring province of La Pampa. A "first" puma is said to have been hunted in 1972 in the "El Pantanoso" ranch. The commotion, surprise, and celebration among the ranchers were such that night, that they organized a barbecue at the town's gas station, where, amid anecdotes and laughter, they savored that "lion" who had dared to prey on some of their animals.
Thus again started, after so many decades, the human-puma conflict in the Pampas, the "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth." From then on, the feline managed to persist in those mountains and even increase its numbers, possibly because during that decade, there was a sharp decline in sheep production (depreciation of the value of wool), and the conflict with the puma, while still present, may not have escalated to the point of eradicating it again from that stronghold. This was the most relevant information gathered on that short trip to the Ventania System: the pumas were there, and apparently, they were "in good health." By a twist of fate, this project, whose goal was to assess the status of pumas in the Buenos Aires mountain ranges, concluded there, almost before it began, remaining dormant for the next two decades.
The "Puma de las Pampas" Project begins (2009)
Interviews to ranchers in the Ventania System, Buenos Aires, and in the Southern Lagoons and Marshes of Saladillo, Córdoba.
During 2009, with the aim of obtaining presence records and understanding the perceptions and attitudes of the rural community regarding the puma, towns and rural roads in the Ventania System in Buenos Aires and the surroundings of La Carlota in southern Córdoba were visited in search of ranchers and hunters to interview. Although there was a prior intuition that pumas were still present in Ventania, it was far from imagining that they could inhabit the lagoons and marshes of southern Córdoba (this area was not included in any distribution map of the species). Therefore, the surprise and joy were considerable upon learning, while "gossiping" on a hunters' forum, that the "coludos" (as pumas are often called in some regions of Argentina) inhabited that region. Numerous forum members idolized a hunter who apparently specialized in killing them. Immediately, one of them was contacted, and he was asked if there was a possibility to interview hunters in La Carlota and neighboring towns; not only did he agree, but he also committed to making the necessary contacts when the team reached that locality.
The work methodology was simple, effective, and relatively low-cost. Upon reaching a town, contacts of producers and hunters were obtained by requesting information from SENASA veterinarians, employees of the Rural Society, INTA, rural veterinarians, gunsmiths, etc. Once these contacts were obtained, the local telephone booth was "taken over" to conduct the interviews via telephone or coordinate a meeting in the town. In summary, about 60 interviews were conducted during that year. Thanks to the information obtained, two reproductive populations of pumas were identified and data about the existing conflict between humans and the feline in these areas of the Austral and Interior Pampas were obtained. Interestingly, from the interviews, a dozen reports also emerged from Buenos Aires counties where the presence of the "big cat" was unthinkable (Junín, Saladillo, Ayacucho, Monte Hermoso, etc.). This led to the first consideration of the possibility that a recolonization process of the Pampas might be taking place beyond what was recorded in the two surveyed areas.
First decade of the Project
Confirming the suspicion of the recolonization of the Pampas. The global distribution of the puma is remodeled, including the Pampas ecoregion.
In early 2010, an invitation was received to participate in a meeting organized by the Cullunche Foundation, which took place in the province of Mendoza, where various speakers were presenting on the topic of the puma. Fortunately, one of them was Juan Carlos Chebez, who was then the editor of the Nótulas Faunísticas magazine of the Azara Foundation. After the presentation on the Puma de las Pampas Project, he extended an invitation to publish the information gathered in Sierra de la Ventana and the Southern Lagoons and Marshes of Saladillo in "his" magazine. Shortly thereafter, the first publication with relevant information about the puma in the Pampas was published in that magazine of the Azara Foundation.
In the following years, about seven campaigns were conducted to gather data on presence and conflict in the Pampas ecoregion and surrounding areas, covering practically the entire province of Buenos Aires, southern Córdoba, southern Santa Fe, and La Pampa. Between 2010 and 2016, reports on the presence of the species in counties and provincial departments began to emerge and became more frequent. With the collaboration of Victoria Bollero, it was evidenced, based on the compilation of numerous reports and concrete records, that the puma had not only recolonized southern Córdoba but also southern Santa Fe and the northwest Buenos Aires. With Nicolás Chimento it was described, based on many presence reports, that this phenomenon had extended to the entire central and eastern province of Buenos Aires, covering a total of 60 counties. By 2020, in an update published about presence and human conflict in the Pampas of the Buenos Aires province, the number of counties where the puma was present had established a presence had risen to 81 (currently: 90). In summary, within the framework of the "Puma de las Pampas" Project, six scientific articles were published in the journals of the Azara Foundation (four in Nótulas Faunísticas and two in Historia Natural). A poster for outreach/education illustrated by Carlos Montefusco, designed by Mariano Masariche, and funded by the AZARA foundation and the Cooperativa Obrera de Bahía Blanca city (thanks to the support of Brian Chaz) was also produced and distributed. Additionally, a Facebook page/group was created, initially called "Puma de las Pampas y Aves de Presa de Argentina." This page, which currently has around 14,000 members, not only facilitated the dissemination of information about the species, reporting of poachers, etc., but also established a network of collaborators who continuously provide data. This network, complementarily to the campaigns, aided in creating a new distribution map and obtaining an initial overview of conflicts in regions reclaimed by the species, some of which had been without puma presence for over a century.
The phenomenon of recolonization has been linked to the agricultural transformation of the ecoregion, which, among other factors, has contributed to significant rural depopulation. Both the puma and its prey appear to have adapted well to cultivated areas, where they find refuge, breeding sites, food, and water. The feline adds to these advantages the presence of vegetation for stalking and hiding prey. Additionally, the shift of livestock to less productive regions has led to a reduced human-puma conflict in the Pampas, with the role of the traditional livestock "caretaker" virtually disappearing. Before the expansion and modern agricultural technologies, these local inhabitants roamed the fields, eliminating predators and their prey. By the early 2010s, second crops, especially corn and soybeans, became prominent, ensuring that fields were covered with crops and food for a more extended period each year. These changes in land use created the "perfect" scenario for recolonization.
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