What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians.

ABSTRACT: The wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important portion of the European wolf population; however, it has been markedly understudied. We evaluated winter diet composition and prey selection of Slovak wolves based on 321 scat samples collected between September-April within four different study areas during 2015-2017. The winter diet of wolves in the Slovak Carpathians was characterized by a 98% occurrence of wild large-sized and medium-sized ungulates with red deer occurring in wolf scats most often, consistent with their highest density among oth

SUBMITTER: Guimaraes NF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9236239 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature