Examining the ways in which animals use habitat and select resources to satisfy their life history requirements has important implications for ecology, evolution, and conservation. The advent of radio‐tracking in the mid‐20th century greatly expanded the scope of animal‐habitat modeling. Thereafter, it became common practice to aggregate telemetry data collected on a number of tagged individuals and fit one model describing resource selection at the population level. This convention, however, runs the risk of masking important individuality in the nature of associations between animals and their environment. Here, we investigated the importance of individual variation in animal‐habitat relationships via the study of a highly gregarious species. We modeled elk (Cervus elaphus) location data, collected from Global Positioning System (GPS) collars, using Bayesian discrete choice resource selection function (RSF) models. Using a high‐performance computing cluster, we batch‐processed these models at the level of each individual elk (n = 88) and evaluated the output with respect to: (a) the composition of parameters in the most supported models, (b) the estimates of the parameters featured in the global models, and (c) spatial maps of the predicted relative probabilities of use. We detected considerable individual variation across all three metrics. For instance, the most supported models varied with respect to parameter composition with a range of seven to 17 and an average of 14.4 parameters per individual elk. The estimates of the parameters featured in the global models also varied greatly across individual elk with little conformity detected across age or sex classes. Finally, spatial mapping illustrated stark differences in the predicted relative probabilities of use across individual elk. Our analysis identifies that animal‐habitat relationships, even among the most gregarious of species, can be highly variable. We discuss the implications of our results for ecology and present some guiding principles for the development of RSF models at the individual‐animal level.

Elk (Cervus canadensis) have been successfully translocated to 11 states in the United States and 1 Canadian province in eastern North America. Availability of suitable habitat is an important factor in determining the success of relocations, but there is limited information on habitat selection of elk in eastern deciduous forests. Our objective was to determine resource selection of male and female elk recently translocated in the Ozark Mountains, Missouri, USA. We placed global positioning system (GPS) collars on all translocated adult elk. We modeled seasonal resource selection as a function of 9 habitat-related covariates using a hierarchical Bayesian discrete choice model. Forage openings (cultivated fields providing forage for wildlife), glades, and cool-season grasslands (pastures) had high probabilities of elk use. Areas with vegetation type heterogeneity, low canopy cover, and far from paved roads but close to 2-track roads also had high probabilities of elk use. The availability of open lands, such as glades, pastures, and forage openings, appears to be important for elk in all seasons in forest-dominated landscapes and may help encourage site fidelity following translocation and reduce conflict with private property as the population becomes established. Managers of elk populations in similar ecosystems should ensure sufficient availability of open lands, which might be met through maintenance of forage openings and restoration of natural open lands. Additionally, restoration efforts can benefit from post-translocation monitoring that allows managers to improve upon externally derived habitat models through a process of adaptive restoration planning and habitat management. Ó 2018 The Wildlife Society.

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Lethal removal by trapping is frequently the most cost‐ and time‐effective means for managing wild pigs (Sus scrofa); however, the effectiveness of continuous‐catch trap doors, which allow the entry of additional pigs into the trap after the door closes, remains unstudied. Our objective was to determine entry of wild pigs through closed root, saloon, and trainer continuous‐catch doors. We constructed 26 corral traps on 4 study areas in east‐central and southwest Alabama, USA, during the summer of 2011. We pre‐baited each trap for ≥1 week to condition wild pigs to freely enter and exit traps and used game cameras to verify conditioning and to identify individuals and sounders. We then randomly assigned a trap door to each trap, set the trigger to capture only part of each sounder, and used game cameras to record the behavior of non‐captured individuals. We observed 239 individuals from 24 sounders. Non‐captured sounder members made 2.9 additional visits/trial (SE = 0.45) to traps after the door had closed, with each visit averaging 57.8 minutes (SE = 14.55) in duration. Of 222 opportunities (non‐captured pigs observed after trap door had closed) only 9 (16%), 1 (1.9%), and 1 (0.9%) wild pigs entered through closed root, trainer, and saloon doors, respectively. Continuous‐catch doors were ineffective at capturing substantial numbers of additional pigs after the door had closed. Given the comparatively greater expense of continuous‐catch doors, landowners and wildlife managers should weigh the relative cost and benefits of these doors when developing wild pig removal programs. © 2013 The Wildlife Society