Predation of Eurasian lynx on roe deer and red deer in Bialowieza Primeral Forest, Poland

Okarma, Henryk; Jędrzejewski, Włodzimierz; Schmidt, Krzysztof; Kowalczyk, Rafał; Jędrzejewska, Bogumiła

doi:10.4098/at.arch.97-22

Cited by 143 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

158

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the Jura Mountains, lynx returned to a kill and fed for 3.4 (± 1.1) days. Similar results were obtained by Okarma et al (1997) in Poland, where lynx fed on an ungulate prey for 3.2 days.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The preferred prey of Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758), however, is the roe deer Capreolus capreolus, as studies in the Swiss Alps (Breitenmoser and Haller 1987, Haller 1992, in Poland (Okarma et al 1997), and in Norway (Linnell et al 1996) have shown. In Finland, however, where roe deer are not present in lynx habitat, the main prey of lynx are hares Lepus sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prey spectrum, prey preference and consumption rates of Eurasian lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains

Molinari²,

2000

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

U. 2000. Prey spectrum, prey preference and consumption rates of Eurasian lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Acta Theriologica 45: 243-252.We examined 617 kills made by radio-tracked Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758) from March 1988 to May 1998 to assess prey spectrum, preference, and food consumption rates in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Roe deer Capreolus capreolus and chamois Rupicapra rupicapra were the main prey (69 and 22%, respectively), followed by red fox Vulpes uulpes, brown hare Lepus europaeus, domestic cat Felis calus, wild cat Felis sylvestris, marmot Marmota marmola, pine marten Martes martes, capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, and badger Meles meles. Lynx fed on an ungulate prey from 1 to 7 days, depending on the prey category. The consumption rates of males, of females alone, and of females with kittens varied from 3.2 to 4.9 kg per night, with an increasing trend as the kittens grew older. Including the days when lynx had no kill (searching time) lynx consumed 2 ± 0.9 kg per night. The mean searching time was 1.5-2 days for females, depending on the season and the number of kittens, and 2.5 days for males. The mean interval between consecutive kills was 5.9 for males and 5.2 days for females, respectively. At 38% of carcasses the presence of one or several scavengers (red fox, raven Coruus corax or both) was detected. Although 69% of the kills were roe deer and only 22% chamois, we hypothesise that in the forests of the Jura Mountains chamois are more vulnerable to lynx predation than roe deer, as chamois had a slightly higher preference index (0.59) than roe deer (0.41), based on rough estimates of the two ungulate populations in the study area.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey spectrum, prey preference and consumption rates of Eurasian lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains

Molinari²,

2000

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even though many studies revealed that roe deer were the dominating prey species for lynx in the winter (Okarma et al 1997, Odden et al 2006, we failed to detected such relationship, maybe because of the limited lynx occurrences (only 35 times) and different habitat requirements between lynx and roe deer in this area. The most parsimonious interspecies interactions model of mountain hare contained two variables, river and P [r] ( Table 4).…”

Section: Effect Of Habitat Factors On Animal Presencecontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…In addition, lynx presence showed much more significant correlation with mountain hare presence other than coniferous and slope. The dietary composition and species preyed on by lynx depends on the configuration of herbivore community in the region (Okarma et al 1997, Pedersen et al 1999, Weber and Weissbrodt 1999, Koubek et al 2001, and they tend to be an opportunistic generalist predator that has specialized on small ungulates (Jedrzejewski et al 1993). In Europe, roe deer is the most widespread ungulates and the most common prey of lynx when they occur together (Jedrzejewski et al 1993, Nowicki 1997, Belotti et al 2015.…”

Section: Effect Of Habitat Factors On Animal Presencementioning

confidence: 99%

Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human‐altered landscape

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Habitat alteration by humans may change the supply of food and cover for wild ungulates, but few studies have examined how these resources are utilised over time by individuals of different sex and reproductive status. We examined circadian and seasonal variation in habitat utilisation within a moose Alces alces population in central Norway. Our study area covers forests and open habitats, both influenced by human alterations (e.g. forestry and agriculture). We expected moose to select habitats with good forage and cover in all seasons, but to select open foraging habitats mainly during night-time. Moose selected good foraging habitats, such as young forest stands and cultivated land during night, whereas the utilisation of older forest stands providing cover increased during daytime. This circadian pattern changed throughout the year, seemingly related to variation in hours of daylight and provision of forage. Young forest stands provided higher density of preferred food plants compared to older stands and were highly selected from spring until autumn. Relative to young forest, the selection for older forest stands increased towards winter, likely due to provision of higher plant quality late in the growing season, and to reduced accumulation of movement-impeding snow during winter. Selection of cultivated land varied among seasons, being highest when crop biomass was high. We also found some indications of state-dependent habitat selection as reproducing females avoided open, food rich areas in the first months after their calves were born, whereas males and females without young selected these areas in spring and summer. Our results clearly show that moose exploit the variations in cover and food caused by forestry and agriculture. This is particularly relevant for moose in Norway as current changes in forestry practice lead to a reduction in young, food-rich forest stands, possibly aggravating the already declining body conditions and recruitment rates of moose.

show abstract

“…data). Earlier studies in Switzerland (Molinari-Jobin et al 2002) indicated that roe deer does were most often killed, while studies in Poland (Okarma et al 1997) indicated that roe deer fawns and adults were killed in proportion to their occurrence in the population. In the latter study, the body condition of lynx-killed roe deer (measured as marrow fat content in 70 animals) was described as normal, indicating no selection for undernourished prey.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Selectivity of eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and recreational hunters for age, sex and body condition in roe deer Capreolus capreolus

Andersen

Karlsen²,

Austmo³

et al. 2007

Wildlife Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gaillard, J-M. 2007: Selectivity of Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and recreational hunters for age, sex and condition in roe deer Capreolus capreolus. -Wildl. Biol. 13: 467-474.Data on the age, sex and condition of roe deer Capreolus capreolus killed by Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and human hunters were collected in two study areas in the counties of Nord-Trøndelag and Hedmark in central and southeastern Norway, respectively. Data on the age and sex structure of the standing population were also collected. No differences in the age or sex structure of roe deer killed by lynx were found between the two study areas or between years with differing snow depths which was expected to affect age-class vulnerability. The profile of 151 lynx-killed roe deer (24% adult males, 44% adult females, 11% male fawns and 21% female fawns) was not statistically different from that of the standing population. In contrast, hunters killed a significantly larger proportion of adult animals, especially males (44% adult males, 28% adult females, 15% male fawns and 13% female fawns). The detailed age structure of lynx killed and hunter killed animals was not different within the adult age class. The body condition of roe deer declined during late winter (more so for males than for females), however, there was no difference in the condition of roe deer killed by lynx or hunters during early winter (the hunting season ends on 24 December). The overall picture is typical of a stalking predator that has few options to select individuals based on condition, age or sex in a prey species with no sexual dimorphism and which is relatively small in relation to the size of the predator (lynx are 50-70% the size of an adult roe deer). Human hunters, on the other hand, are clearly harvesting a non-random section of the population. The result is that hunting does not replicate natural predation, although lynx predation is likely to have a higher per capita impact on roe deer growth rates.

show abstract

Predation of Eurasian lynx on roe deer and red deer in Bialowieza Primeral Forest, Poland

Cited by 143 publications

References 21 publications

Prey spectrum, prey preference and consumption rates of Eurasian lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains

Prey spectrum, prey preference and consumption rates of Eurasian lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains

Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human‐altered landscape

Selectivity of eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and recreational hunters for age, sex and body condition in roe deer Capreolus capreolus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About