| Yanez, Cardenas, Gezelle, Jaksic | Jose L., Juan C., Plinio, Fabian M. | Food habits of the southernmost mountain lions (Felis concolor) in South America: Natural versus livestocked ranges. | 1986 | Journal of Mammology 67(3):604-606 |
Researches studied the food habits of mountain lions in Chile. Mountain lion scat was collected from Torres Del Paine National Park and four adjacent ranches. Scats were examined to determine type of prey and relative abundance. Results indicated that the European Hare (Lepus capensis) was the most abundant species preyed upon both inside and outside the park, followed by ungulates, birds, rodents, and carnivores. Hares were the prevalent winter prey, while other prey species increased in frequency during spring/summer. Some sheep remains were found in park scats, indicating that resident mountain lions either occasionally hunt outside the park at times, lions from outside the park enter the park, or both.