Daily Patterns and Duration of Wolf Activity in the Białowieża Forest, Poland

Theuerkauf, Jörn; Jędrzejewski, Włodzimierz; Schmidt, Krzysztof; Okarma, Henryk; Ruczyński, Ireneusz; Śnieżko, Stanisław; Gula, Roman

doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2003)084<0243:dpadow>2.0.co;2

Cited by 145 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…With this action alone, corridor restoration may have been less successful because wolves strongly avoided the hotel facilities and weakly avoided areas near trails with high levels of human activity. Although wolves in other areas are variable in their responses to people (McNay 2002), many wolves spatially and temporally avoid human activity (Duke 2001, Percy 2003, Theuerkauf et al 2003b, Hebblewhite 2006. Thus, even though it is unclear how reducing human activity within the corridor affected our results, reducing human activity may be an important component of restoration actions.…”

Section: Relative Importance Of Corridor Opening Vs Human Use Managecontrasting

confidence: 54%

Response of Wolves to Corridor Restoration and Human Use Management

Shepherd¹,

Whittington²

2006

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Corridor restoration is increasingly being used to connect habitat in mountainous areas where rugged topography and increasing human activity fragment habitat. Wolves (Canis lupus) are a conservation priority because they avoid areas with high levels of human use and are ecologically important predators. We examined how corridor restoration through a golf course changes the distribution of wolves and their prey in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. We followed and recorded wolf paths in the snow both within the corridor and in the surrounding landscape before and after a corridor was re-established. Track transects were used to estimate prey abundance and snow depths, and trail counters measured human activity. We compared resources on wolf paths to available movement routes using conditional logistic regression and also compared resources used by wolves before and after restoration. We addressed potential confounding effects of prey abundance, snow depths, and levels of human use by testing for changes in these variables. Prior to restoration, wolves traveled around the golf course and used the mountainside to connect valley-bottom habitat. Conversely, elk (Cervus elaphus) densities were highest in the golf course. After restoration, wolves shifted most of their movement to the golf course corridor, whereas elk dispersed along the corridor and mountainside. When traveling through the study area, wolves selected for areas with high prey abundance, low elevations, and low levels of human activity. Corridor restoration increased the area of high quality habitat available to wolves and increased their access to elk and deer at low elevations. Our results corroborate other studies suggesting that wolves and elk quickly adapt to landscape changes and that corridor restoration can improve habitat quality and reduce habitat fragmentation.

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Section: Relative Importance Of Corridor Opening Vs Human Use Managecontrasting

confidence: 54%

Response of Wolves to Corridor Restoration and Human Use Management

Shepherd¹,

Whittington²

2006

E&S

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“…They also marked their territory more during that time: intensity of ground scratching was highest in January, and urine marking in February (Zub et al 2003). Duration of wolves' daily activity peaked during the mating season (February-March) and then again in August, when pups began to travel with other pack members (Theuerkauf et al 2003a). Contrary to older opinions (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive behaviour of wild-living wolves in Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland)

Schmidt

Jędrzejewski

Theuerkauf

et al. 2007

J Ethol

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Schmidt K., Jędrzejewski W., Theuerkauf J., Kowalczyk R., Okarma H. and Jędrzejewska B.Reproductive behaviour of wild-living wolves in Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland).Characteristics of reproductive behaviour of wolves (Canis lupus) were studied by radiotracking and snow-tracking of four packs in Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF), Poland, in 1995Poland, in -1999. Signs of mating occurred between 12 January -22 March. Parturitions took place between 19 April -12 May, and the denning period lasted for 49-64 days. During that time, wolves utilised 1-3 den sites, spending on average 27 days in each site. The dens were never reused in consecutive years, but year after year the breeding sites were located in the same parts of the pack's territory. Pregnant females shrunk their normal mobility by half on 10 days before parturition (from 23 to 13.5 km per day, on average). During 10 days post partum, they spent 85% of time with pups and travelled 3.9 km/day, only. On days 11-30 after parturition, females spent 74% of their time tending pups and increased their daily movement distance to a mean of 13.3 km. The females resumed full mobility 50-70 days after parturition that coincides with termination of the weaning process. Anecdotal observations indicated that pups were tended by other pack members while the mother was absent. Compared to years 1947-1950, in 1995-1999 years.

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“…Indeed, we might expect hunting success to be higher at night because prey animals have a reduced chance of spotting predators under dim light conditions. For example, it is known that hunting success in cheetahs is higher when they can stalk undetected very close to intended prey (FitzGibbon and Fanshawe 1988) and that wolves (Canis lupus) are almost twice as successful when hunting on moonlit nights (Theuerkauf et al 2003). To the contrary, the high levels of activity during early mornings that followed moonless nights, when activity was limited, suggest a behavioral response to an increasing hunger risk.…”

Section: Portion Of Activity (%)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of the dark or dinner by moonlight? Reduced temporal partitioning among Africa's large carnivores

Cozzi

Broekhuis

McNutt

et al. 2012

Ecology

205

208

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Africa is home to the last intact guild of large carnivores and thus provides the only opportunity to investigate mechanisms of coexistence among large predator species. Strong asymmetric dominance hierarchies typically characterize guilds of large carnivores; but despite this asymmetry, subdominant species may persist alongside their stronger counterparts through temporal partitioning of habitat and resources. In the African guild, the subdominant African wild dogs and cheetahs are routinely described as diurnal and crepuscular. These activity patterns have been interpreted to result from the need to avoid encounters with the stronger, nocturnal spotted hyenas and lions. However, the idea that diel activity patterns of carnivore species are strongly shaped by competition and predation has recently been challenged by new observations. In a three-year study in the Okavango Delta, we investigated daily activity patterns and temporal partitioning for wild dogs, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and lions by fitting radio collars that continuously recorded activity bursts, to a total of 25 individuals. Analysis of activity patterns throughout the 24-h cycle revealed an unexpectedly high degree of temporal overlap among the four species. This was mainly due to the extensive and previously undescribed nocturnal activity of wild dogs and cheetahs. Their nocturnal activity fluctuated with the lunar cycle, represented up to 40% of the diel activity budget and was primarily constrained by moonlight availability. In contrast, the nocturnal activity patterns of lions and hyenas were unaffected by moonlight and remained constant over the lunar cycle. Our results suggest that other ecological factors such as optimal hunting conditions have shaped the diel activity patterns of subdominant, large predators. We suggest that they are ''starvation driven'' and must exploit every opportunity to obtain a meal. The benefits of activity on moonlit nights therefore offset the risks of encountering night-active predators and competitors. Abstract. Africa is home to the last intact guild of large carnivores and thus provides the only opportunity to investigate mechanisms of coexistence among large predator species. Strong asymmetric dominance hierarchies typically characterize guilds of large carnivores; but despite this asymmetry, subdominant species may persist alongside their stronger counterparts through temporal partitioning of habitat and resources. In the African guild, the subdominant African wild dogs and cheetahs are routinely described as diurnal and crepuscular. These activity patterns have been interpreted to result from the need to avoid encounters with the stronger, nocturnal spotted hyenas and lions. However, the idea that diel activity patterns of carnivore species are strongly shaped by competition and predation has recently been challenged by new observations. In a three-year study in the Okavango Delta, we investigated daily activity patterns and temporal partitioning for wild dogs, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and lions...

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Daily Patterns and Duration of Wolf Activity in the Białowieża Forest, Poland

Cited by 145 publications

References 20 publications

Response of Wolves to Corridor Restoration and Human Use Management

Response of Wolves to Corridor Restoration and Human Use Management

Reproductive behaviour of wild-living wolves in Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland)

Fear of the dark or dinner by moonlight? Reduced temporal partitioning among Africa's large carnivores

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