Camera trap footage shows a young puma carrying a Magellanic penguin. Credit: Tompkins Conservation | Rewilding Argentina<\/p>\n
Pumas hunting penguins<\/p>\n
In 2004, when Doug and Kris Tompkins, founders of Tompkins Conservation, donated 170,000 acres to the Argentine government to create Monte Le\u00f3n National Park, thousands of Magellanic penguins<\/a> were making their home there. Following the park\u2019s creation, wildlife began to rebound, including Patagonia\u2019s largest terrestrial predator, which appears to have developed a liking for the easy-to-catch prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n Researchers from the University of California Berkeley, Rewilding Argentina<\/a> and the Argentine Research Council (CONICET) have spent several years studying the surprising cat-and-bird interaction. <\/p>\n The team captured, collared and monitored 14 adult pumas across the park and deployed a large camera trap array to estimate puma density and assess their behaviour, allowing them to understand how pumas moved, interacted and responded to the seasonal arrival of penguins.<\/p>\n Fourteen adult pumas were collared to help researchers learn more about how the big cats hunt. Credit: Tompkins Conservation | Rewilding Argentina<\/p>\n Analysing four years of GPS and camera data revealed surprising results: during the penguins\u2019 breeding season (September to March), pumas preyed heavily on penguins.<\/p>\n \u201cPumas range from Canada to the southern tip of South America, occupying forests, grasslands, shrublands and deserts,\u201d says Emiliano Donadio, Director of Science for\u00a0Rewilding Argentina<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThey cope with deep snow, scorching summers and freezing winters because they can eat almost anything, from mice to elk<\/a> and everything in-between. But penguins? Seriously? Yes. Their ability to feed on so many different prey species is a striking reminder of how remarkably adaptable this top predator is, capable of thriving in nearly every environment across the Americas.\u201d<\/p>\n Is this hunting behaviour new? \u201cThere were some informal reports of pumas killing penguins at our site going back to 2007, and chances are that in the past they also took the few penguins that wandered onto the mainland,\u201d explains Donadio. \u201cBut having a large proportion of a puma population relying almost entirely on penguins for part of the year, when penguins come ashore to nest, is something new. It\u2019s a surprising and unexpected interaction between a land predator and a marine prey.\u201d<\/p>\n Magellanic penguins gathering on the shores of Monte Leon National Park in Argentina. Credit: Tompkins Conservation | Rewilding Argentina<\/p>\n The pumas\u2019 hunting of penguins has been seen to have dramatic effects on puma movements and social interactions. <\/p>\n Pumas that preyed on penguins interacted with other pumas up to five times more than those that didn\u2019t, suggesting that the abundant, clustered prey resource made them more tolerant of each other. <\/p>\n The penguins anchored pumas to smaller territories – when penguins seasonally migrated, pumas responded by quickly expanding their movement. <\/p>\n![\"Puma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puma-attacking-Magellanic-penguins-scaled.jpeg\")
A puma attacking two Magellanic penguins. Credit: Tompkins Conservation | Rewilding Argentina<\/p>\n