Indirect Effect of African Swine Fever on the Diet Composition of the Gray Wolf Canis lupus—A Case Study in Belarus

Abstract

After the emergence of African swine fever (ASF), the wild boar population numbers fell drastically in Eastern Europe. This situation made it possible to verify the changes in the wolves’ diet that occurred. The material collection was carried out in two regions, Grodno and Vitebsk, in Belarus. In total, 19 species/groups of prey were observed in the gray wolf diet, but the most important were wild boar, elk, red deer, roe deer and beaver. The decrease in the number of wild boar caused changes in the diet of wolves but only in Vitebsk region, where wolves’ diet before the ASF epidemic outbreak consisted mainly of elk and wild boar. After the decrease of wild boar numbers, wolves still mainly hunted elk, but other types of prey included roe deer, red deer and beaver. We found a negative correlation between wild boar and both deer species (roe deer and red deer) in the wolves’ diet. Moreover, the more the wolves consumed elk, the less they consumed beaver. In our opinion, only intensive hunting of wolves by humans can explain the resulting dietary fluctuations between elk and beaver, as well as the fact that wolves did not turn to other food sources.

Not Just Pictures: Utility of Camera Trapping in the Context of African Swine Fever and Wild Boar Management

“…For instance, a recent study described that wolves' diet changed to more predation on both roe and red deer after ASF emergence in Belarus [51]. Similarly, the emergence of ASF in Poland derived in a higher number of livestock attacks by wolves [52]. Tus, the utility of multispecies methodologies to monitor both wild boar population size but also other species involved in the dynamic of the ecosystem will improve the better understanding of the system as well as the management actions implemented [53].…”

Disease threats to tigers and their prey

“…The population implications of ASF for wild boars in tiger habitat remains largely anecdotal, but declines of at least 90% in Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik in Russia (Waller et al, 2022) 10. 3389/fevo.2023.1135935 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 08 frontiersin.org mirrors the situation in Europe (Morelle et al, 2020;Klich et al, 2021;Schulz et al, 2021). If these reports are indicative of the threat to wild boar in other regions, the population and ecological implications could be devastating.…”

“…Wild boar are a key prey resource in almost all of tiger range (Hayward et al, 2012). Elsewhere, another top predator, the gray wolf has been forced to switch to alternative prey species (Klich et al, 2021), but the ability for tigers to follow suit will depend on the diversity and biomass of local ungulates. In some regions, like Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, where numbers of large deer have already been heavily depleted (Kawanishi and Sunquist, 2004;Sunquist, 2010), the additional loss of wild boar could restrict tigers to hunting smaller prey that would be energetically unsustainable and constrain reproductive output (Miller et al, 2014).…”

Evaluation of the Presence of ASFV in Wolf Feces Collected from Areas in Poland with ASFV Persistence

“…Wild boar is an important food item for wolves—in western Poland, where wild boar densities are the highest [ 25 ], this species constituted 23 to 43% of biomass consumed by wolves [ 26 ]. It was found that ASF-driven decrease of wild boar numbers affects wolf feeding ecology—after the wild boar population in Vitebsk region (NE Belarus) declined, wolves started to hunt roe deer and red deer that were earlier avoided by local wolf packs [ 27 ].…”