Wolf diet and prey selection in the South-Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania

PLoS One. 2019 Nov 21;14(11):e0225424. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225424. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The Romanian wolf population, one of the largest in Europe, occupies a total home-range of 154500 km2 and is spread across a variety of landscapes-from anthropized hills and plateaus to remote, densely forested mountains. However, this population is markedly understudied, and even basic knowledge of the species' feeding habits is deficient. Wolf diet was assessed based on 236 scat samples collected between November 2013 and October 2014, by following pre-established transects (total length = 774 km). The study area (600 km2) is a multi-prey ecosystem in the southern sector of the Eastern Romanian Carpathians. Our results emphasize that more than 80% of the wolf diet is based on wild ungulates. The wild boar is clearly selected (D = 0.74) and is the most common species in the diet (Bio = 72%), while roe deer (Bio = 10%) and red deer (Bio = 5%) have a smaller contribution. Domestic species represented the second-largest prey category in both seasons. Among them, dog is a particularly important source of food (Bio 3.5-10.9%). Other domestic species (goat, sheep, horse) have marginal importance in the wolf diet and seasonal occurrence. Standardized niche breadths are low in both seasons (BAw = 0.07, BAs = 0.12), and a high degree of overlap in the resources used has been observed (Ôws = 0.99). Our study represents the first step towards understanding the wolf foraging behaviour in the Romanian Carpathians and is valuable to address the complex issues of wolf and wild ungulate population management and conservation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Feed / classification*
  • Animals
  • Male
  • Population Density
  • Predatory Behavior / physiology*
  • Romania
  • Seasons
  • Wolves / physiology*

Grants and funding

Putna-Vrancea Natural Park Administration (http://parculputnavrancea.ro/), Association for the Conservation of Biological Diversity (www.acdb.ro) and the Environmental Protection Agency, Vrancea County (http://apmvn.anpm.ro/) provided logistic support during data collection. Part of staff costs for TS and laboratory work has been supported from the strategic grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/133391, Project “Doctoral and Post-doctoral programs of excellence for highly qualified human resources training for research in the field of Life sciences, Environment and Earth Science” co-financed by the European Social Fund within the Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013 (http://fondurieuropene.centre.ubbcluj.ro/posdru1591-5g133391-programe-doctorale-si-post-doctorale-de-excelenta-pentru-formarea-de-resurse-umane-inalt-calificate-pentru-cercetare-in-domeniile-stiintelor-vietii-mediului-si-pamantului/). Additional support for TS has been provided by Pro Biodiversitas SRL. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.