Long-distance dispersal connects Dinaric-Balkan and Alpine grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations

Abstract

In the last two centuries, persecution and deforestation caused grey wolf Canis lupus populations in Europe to decline. Recently, their numbers started to recover although most populations still remain isolated from one another. This study presents the first documented evidence of the successful reconnection of the Dinaric-Balkan and the Alpine wolf populations via long distance dispersal and subsequent reproduction. A young male wolf radiocollared in the Dinaric Mountains in July 2011 travelled through Slovenia and Austria to the Italian Alps, where he settled in March 2012. During the 98 days of dispersal period the wolf has travelled a cumulative line distance of 1176 km crossing multiple anthropogenic and natural barriers, and successfully hunting wild prey until he settled 233 km straight line distance from its natal territory. Camera trapping, snow tracking and genetic evidence in the new territory confirmed pairing with a female wolf from the neighboring Alpine population. In the following year the pair has produced a first documented "mixed" litter between wolves from the Dinaric-Balkan and the Alpine wolf populations.This case study demonstrates the potential for the future merging of European wolf populations even in human-dominated landscapes and highlights the importance of transboundary cooperation in wolf research and management.

Mapping range dynamics from opportunistic data: spatiotemporal modelling of the lynx distribution in the Alps over 21 years

“…However, population spread depends on the dispersal pattern of females who seem to be much more conservative. In contrast to wolves who are able to establish in new areas which are quite distant from the source populations (Kojola et al ., ; Ražen et al ., ), lynx have the tendency to establish their home range adjacent to other resident lynx (Zimmermann et al ., ). Individuals in solitary territorial species define their home‐range borders in relation to the spatial distribution of conspecifics.…”

Wolf population genetics inEurope: a systematic review, meta‐analysis and suggestions for conservation and management

“…There are at least 116 animals in France, present in a minimum of 36 wolf permanent presence areas (ONCFS wolf winter survey 2014–2015), 57–89 animals in Italy (Galaverni et al., ), eight animals in Switzerland and 2–8 animals in Austria. The Western Alps in Italy, Switzerland and France (Lucchini et al., ; Valière et al., ; Fabbri et al., , ) have been recolonized by Italian wolves, while the eastern and the central Alps are being colonized by wolves from both the Italian and Dinaric‐Balkan populations (Fabbri et al., ; Ražen et al., ). On the other hand, wolves from this population have expanded south‐west, recently reaching the French Massif Central and the Pyrenees in 1999 and Catalonia in Spain in 2000, carrying a mtDNA haplotype unique to Italian wolves (W4 in Vilà et al., ) (Valière et al., ; Lampreave et al., ; Sastre, ), although without evidence of reproductive success until now, as deduced from the continuous monitoring by the Catalan government.…”

“…Both Bulgarian and Croatian wolves are in the process of recovering from severe bottlenecks that started in the 19th century and lasted up to the 1970s–1980s (Gomerčić et al., ; Moura et al., ). The Dinaric‐Balkan wolf population is a valuable source of genetic diversity for neighbouring populations, as indicated by ongoing recolonization of the eastern and central Alps by Dinaric‐Balkan wolves (Fabbri et al., ; Ražen et al., ), and by the considerable level of gene flow between the Caucasus and the Balkans (Bulgaria) through intermediary populations (Pilot et al., ). The population, however, shows genetic substructuring already at relatively local scales (Fabbri et al., ), indicating the need for further research to understand its internal genetic and demographic connectivity and delineate conservation and management units.…”

“…). Several remarkable examples of wolf recovery in Europe have been described: ( i ) in Scandinavia, the current population, consisting of 49 family groups and 364–598 individuals (Svensson et al., ) was founded by a few eastern (Karelian) immigrants in 1982/83 (Vilà et al., ); ( ii ) the Italian peninsular population, which in the 1980s occupied only the southern Apennines mountain range, had by the 1990s recolonized the southwestern Alps (Lucchini et al., ; Valière et al., ; Fabbri et al., , ), in the process growing from fewer than 100 individuals in the 1960s to about 1200–1700 individuals in 2009–2013 (Galaverni et al., ) and now coming into contact with the Dinaric‐Balkan population in the eastern Alps (Ražen et al., ) and expanding to the west to the Pyrenees and Catalonia, Spain (Valière et al., ; Lampreave et al., ); ( iii ) the North‐west Iberian population has increased since the 1970s (Kaczensky et al., ) to between 254 and 322 breeding packs during 1999–2003 (Álvares et al., ); ( iv ) the Central European Lowland population has recently been established in western Poland and eastern Germany via recolonization primarily from north‐eastern Poland (Czarnomska et al., ), with >60 packs established since the first reported reproduction near the German–Polish border in 2000 (Reinhardt et al., ). At the same time there are examples of European wolf populations that have recently gone extinct, such as the population in the Alentejo region, southern Portugal, in the 1980s–1990s (Álvares, ), or are on the verge of extinction, such as the population in Sierra Morena in southern Spain (López‐Bao et al., ).…”

Wolves at the crossroad: Fission–fusion range biogeography in the Western Carpathians and Central Europe

“…In contrast to canids with plesiomorphic conditions regarding movement ecology, such as golden jackal ( Canis aureus ), which is characterized by short‐distance stepping‐stone dispersal (Fabbri et al., ), wolves possess higher potential for long‐distance dispersals and bridgehead formation (Jimenez et al., ; Kojola, Kaartinen, Hakala, Heikkinen, & Voipio, ; Valière et al, ). Because of the great attention paid to the species and the development of technologies such as satellite telemetry and genetic assays, several examples of long‐distance wolf dispersal have been reported (e.g., Andersen et al., ; Boyd & Pletscher, ; Ražen et al., ; Wabakken, Sand, Liberg, & Bjarvall, ). A consequence of recolonization is the increased potential of admixture between particular populations.…”