Abstract:
Depredation of domestic horses (Equus caballus) by jaguars
(Panthera onca) is an example of human–wildlife conflict that
has not received much attention. We monitored spatio‐
temporal activity and distribution of horses in a 2.64‐km2
fenced area in the dry forest of northwestern Costa Rica in
response to 16 jaguar killings of horses during January‐
November 2017. We monitored 4 horses (2 males, 2 females)
equipped with global positioning system transmitters from
February‐September 2018 to identify daily and seasonal
patterns of use of cover types and a water source by horses.
We then compared these results to the previous locations
where jaguars killed horses to identify the circumstances
under which horses seemed more vulnerable to jaguar
predation. Based on 1,693 locations, horses spent most time
in grassland (92%) rather than forest and edge vegetation
(8%) and used a core area of 0.74 km2 (kernel density
estimation) to 0.86 km2 (minimum convex polygon). Of 16
horse predation events by jaguars, 9 events (56%) occurred
in grasslands, 4 in forested areas (25%), and 3 in the forest
edge (19%), indicating predation events occurred dis-
proportionately from expected counts based on horse use
of vegetation. The predation sites were characterized by a
higher proportion of edge and a lower proportion of forest
compared to a random points. We suggest that when horses
explored areas near the edge of forested areas, the chances
of being preyed on by jaguars increased.
