Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales, Sustentabilidad y Recursos Naturales, Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (ICASUR-UACO-UNPA), Av. Prefectura s/n, (9050) Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
María E. De San Pedro
Instituto de Tecnologías Aplicadas, Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (ITA-UA- CO-UNPA). Ruta N° 3 Acceso Norte, (9011) Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Chantal L. Torlaschi
Dirección de Áreas Protegidas. Consejo Agrario Provincial, Delegación Puerto Deseado, San Martín 1136, (9050) Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Sonia C. Zapata
Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales, Sustentabilidad y Recursos Naturales, Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (ICASUR-UACO-UNPA), Av. Prefectura s/n, (9050) Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Procopio, Diego E., María E. De San Pedro, Chantal L. Torlaschi, and Sonia C. Zapata. 2022. “Like Having a Fox in a Chicken Coop: Surplus Killing of Rheas in Puerto Deseado by Stray Dogs”. El Hornero 37 (2): 217-28. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v37i2.412.
Surplus killing, a common behavior exhibited by carnivores, consists, under certain circumstances, in killing many more prey than they consume. During the summer of 2018, large flocks of Lesser Rheas (Rhea pennata pennata) were found grazing in the fields surrounding the city of Puerto Deseado, in the Ria Desea- do Provincial Reserve, and even get in town. At the same time, high densities of stray dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were recorded in the city. The convergence of the two events resulted in a surplus killing of 68 Lesser Rheas by packs. This is the first record of surplus killing of lesser rheas by predation of stray dogs in Argentina. It is essential to consider the presence of stray dogs when designing conservation strategies for wildlife, particularly in the surrounding of urban areas.
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