Surplus Killing of Magellanic Penguins Spheniscus magellanicus by Puma Puma concolor ) in Islote Lobos National Park, Northern Patagonia
5 affiliations
- 1Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni (CIMAS, CONICET) San Antonio Oeste Río Negro Argentina
- 2Administración de Parques Nacionales, Dirección Regional Patagonia Norte San Carlos de Bariloche Río Negro Argentina
- 3Facultad de Ciencias Marinas FaCiMar, U. N. Comahue San Antonio Oeste Río Negro Argentina
- 4Centro de Ciencias Naturales, Ambientales y Antropológicas Universidad Maimónides y Fundación Azara Buenos Aires Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina
- 5Centro de Estudios de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR, CENPAT, CONICET) Puerto Madryn Chubut Argentina
Abstract
Surplus killing (SK) by large carnivores may generate high‐intensity mortality events in colonial seabirds. Here, we document repeated predation events involving Magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus magellanicus ) and pumas ( Puma concolor ) in Islote Lobos National Park (ILNP, Río Negro, Argentina). During the 2024–2025 breeding season, only four adult penguins with cervical injuries and no signs of consumption were recorded, precluding their interpretation as SK. In contrast, during the 2025–2026 breeding season, multiple high‐intensity mortality events were recorded at La Pastosa and Isla de los Pájaros, two islets harboring reproductive penguin colonies in the ILNP. Across all documented 2025–2026 events, at least 961 penguins were found dead, including 887 adults and 74 chicks. Carcasses exhibited cervical bite injuries and little or no evidence of consumption, while fresh puma tracks, feces, and direct observations of an adult individual within the colonies strongly supported puma predation. During the four consecutive breeding seasons prior to these events, population monitoring did not record mortality episodes of comparable magnitude and suggested stable population dynamics within the ILNP colonies. The mortality recorded during the 2025–2026 breeding season represented a minimum direct mortality of 3.52% of the local breeding adult population. These records represent the northernmost confirmed case of SK involving Magellanic penguins and pumas, extending the documented geographic range of this interaction by more than 1000 km northwards. They also suggest that repeated SK events may represent an important source of additive mortality for local penguin colonies. Our findings highlight the ecological importance of episodic terrestrial–marine trophic interactions and the need for continued demographic monitoring in coastal breeding systems.
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BibTeX
@article{hombre2026surplus,
title = {{Surplus Killing of Magellanic Penguins Spheniscus magellanicus by Puma Puma concolor ) in Islote Lobos National Park, Northern Patagonia}},
author = {Jesica D. Hombre and Magdalena Arias and Esteban Tazzioli and Raúl González and Enrique Crespo},
journal = {Ecology and Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ece3.74585},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74585},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Surplus Killing of Magellanic Penguins Spheniscus magellanicus by Puma Puma concolor ) in Islote Lobos National Park, Northern Patagonia
AU - Jesica D. Hombre
AU - Magdalena Arias
AU - Esteban Tazzioli
AU - Raúl González
AU - Enrique Crespo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - Ecology and Evolution
DO - 10.1002/ece3.74585
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74585
AB - Surplus killing (SK) by large carnivores may generate high‐intensity mortality events in colonial seabirds. Here, we document repeated predation events involving Magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus magellanicus ) and pumas ( Puma concolor ) in Islote Lobos National Park (ILNP, Río Negro, Argentina). During the 2024–2025 breeding season, only four adult penguins with cervical injuries and no signs of consumption were recorded, precluding their interpretation as SK. In contrast, during the 2025–2026 breeding season, multiple high‐intensity mortality events were recorded at La Pastosa and Isla de los Pájaros, two islets harboring reproductive penguin colonies in the ILNP. Across all documented 2025–2026 events, at least 961 penguins were found dead, including 887 adults and 74 chicks. Carcasses exhibited cervical bite injuries and little or no evidence of consumption, while fresh puma tracks, feces, and direct observations of an adult individual within the colonies strongly supported puma predation. During the four consecutive breeding seasons prior to these events, population monitoring did not record mortality episodes of comparable magnitude and suggested stable population dynamics within the ILNP colonies. The mortality recorded during the 2025–2026 breeding season represented a minimum direct mortality of 3.52% of the local breeding adult population. These records represent the northernmost confirmed case of SK involving Magellanic penguins and pumas, extending the documented geographic range of this interaction by more than 1000 km northwards. They also suggest that repeated SK events may represent an important source of additive mortality for local penguin colonies. Our findings highlight the ecological importance of episodic terrestrial–marine trophic interactions and the need for continued demographic monitoring in coastal breeding systems.
SN - 2045-7758
SN - 2045-7758
ER -