In Aid of Pumas in Argentina

Pumas live side by side with people and their livestock in parts of Argentina such as the Mendoza region. Puma attacks on herds can result in conflict between these big cats and livestock producers, with Pumas being persecuted, including through the use of toxic bait. Every year thousands of Pumas and foxes are killed because of illegal hunting. 

This project aims to provide training to livestock producers in the Department of Lavalle, Mendoza region in Argentina on animal-welfare friendly mitigation measures to keep Pumas away from their herds. The use of a protective dog, donkey, fox lights and anti-cougar pens have all been proven solutions to deter Pumas from hunting domestic animals. This project will include training individual protective dogs and donkeys over several months to work with goats and sheep, and placing them with the livestock producers we are working with. It will also focus on advocating for good land use practices to protect the Pumas’ natural habitat and ecosystems, and for animal-welfare-based tourism practices as a good source of economic income for local communities. 

Herds of goats and sheep graze in areas where Pumas roam.

The Pumas natural habitat in Argentina includes miles of mountaineous areas and plains.

Fundación Cullunche works with livestock herders to adopt animal welfare-friendly measures to deter Pumas from attacking their herds. Solutions such as fox lights have proven to work.