Taylor, Robert J. 1991. The Mammalian Predator Community of Wind Cave National Park, Final Report. Utah State University, Logan, UT.

Abstract

The purpose of this report was to describe the mammalian carnivore community of Wind Cave National Park and to discover factors which determine its structure. The initial phase of the project was devoted to surveys of Park records, State records, and local trappers for accounts of carnivores in the southern Black Hills and do a thorough description of the Park's current predator community. Historical records suggest that coyotes, badgers, and bobcats are the carnivore species most consistently present, coyotes comprising the bulk of the individuals. Foxes, raccoons, skunks, and other members of the weasel family have been rare or absent. The second year of this project dealt with radiotracking some of the Park's coyotes and with an experimentatl introduction of skunks. The report concludes that the carnivore fauna of Wind Cave National Park is less diverse than that of the surrounding southern Black Hills and discusses the causative factors that may underlie this phenomenon.