Human-Wildlife Interactions

Human-Wildlife Interactions Advisor, Dr. Carolyn Whitesell is thrilled to announce the launch of the Bay Area Carnivore-Livestock Interactions Project (BACLIP for short). This project is the result of a collaboration between her research program, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (who generously provided the project funding), Panthera (an NGO focused on conservation of wild felids), Colorado State University, UC Santa Cruz Puma Project, and others. Through it, they will be testing nonlethal deterrents for protecting livestock from mountain lions and coyotes on rangeland in San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties.

Additionally, they will be gathering data on individual mountain lions that have attacked livestock and other domestic animals and data on coyotes that have attacked livestock. The team will also be examining attack recidivism rates. To do all of this, they will collect genetic samples—saliva swabs--from bite marks on livestock that may have been attacked by carnivores (mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats) and from bite marks on other domestic animals that may have been attacked by mountain lions.

Through these genetic samples, they aim to identify the individual carnivore responsible for the attack. These samples take some time to analyze in the lab, so cannot be used for real time management interventions, but will be useful for understanding predation patterns more broadly. We encourage anyone in San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties with livestock or other domestic animals that suffer an attack to contact California Department of Fish and Wildlife and our research team directly as soon as possible (ideally within 24 hours of the attack) so that a genetic sample can be collected. To avoid accidentally contaminating the sample and to ensure that wildlife managers can get complete information about the incident, please minimize handling or moving the carcass whenever possible.

To learn more about BACLIP or to report a livestock attack, you may reach Dr. Whitesell at (650)-224-4679 or cawhitesell@ucanr.edu, Clara Jessup at (206) 420-9965 or cjessup@panthera.org, or Veronica Yovovich at (312) 952-5071 or vyovovich@panthera.org.