Please see request below from UCCE Human-Wildlife Interactions Advisor Carolyn Whitesell...
The Bay Area Carnivore-Livestock Interactions Project (BACLIP) is examining various aspects of carnivore-livestock conflict. One part of the project is looking at patterns of whether individual carnivores target and repeatedly attack domestic animals, or whether predation incidents are chance interactions between the two.
To accomplish this, they are collecting DNA from any domestic animals that are attacked or killed by a puma or coyote within San Mateo, Santa Clara, or Santa Cruz Counties. The DNA samples are collected with a cotton swab and will be able to identify whether a carnivore was responsible for the injuries, as well as the individual puma or coyote involved. Over time, the researchers on the project can see if the same individuals are responsible for repeated attacks on domestic animals or not. Please note that the sometimes lengthy time it will take for the lab to process the samples means that these data will not be useful for real-time management decisions; the information will be highly valuable in furthering our understanding of local carnivore behavior and how to best protect your pets and livestock.
In the unfortunate event you have a domestic animal (livestock or pet) that is killed by a carnivore and you would be willing to have a genetic sample collected, please contact CDFW at (707) 428-2002 or Dr. Whitesell at (650) 224-4679 ASAP.. Samples are best collected within 24 hours, but even if it's been a few days they may still be able to collect one, depending on the circumstances. Thank you!