Sustainable monitoring of roe deer in public hunting areas in the Spanish Pyrenees

Abstract

Aim of study: Monitoring trends in animal populations is essential for the development of appropriate wildlife management strategies.Area of study: The area is situated in the southern Pyrenees (Aragon), Spain. Material and methods:To measure the abundance, population trends, sex ratio, and mortality of roe deer populations, we analyzed data from i) driven hunts for wild boar (hunting seasons 1995/96-2009/10, n = 1,417, ii) itineraries, which were used to calculate the KAI and density using DS (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010), n = 310 itineraries), iii) roe deer carcass recoveries (2006-2010, n = 100), and iv) data from the deer hunting quota fulfillment (2006-2010, n = 325 hunted animals.Main results: Based on DS, in 2010, the average density of roe deer populations was 2.3 km -2 (CV 17%). Based on the KAI and the battues, the estimated average annual rate of increase was 5.8% and 4.3%, respectively. Based on the KAI and the carcass recoveries, the estimates of the population sex ratio were 0.75 (n = 641) and 0.9 (n = 100) males per female, respectively. Carcass recoveries indicated that mortality was highest in late winter and early spring. The average body masses and sizes of males and females were within the ranges reported for other Iberian and European populations.Research highlights: Monitoring should be continued in the Aragon population of roe deer, although larger sample sizes are required to increase the accuracy of estimates and assessments of the impact of management actions.

Can roe deer hunting be selective? A case study from the Pyrenees

“…Antler biometric included beam height (mm), brow tines (mm), back points (mm), coronet perimeter (mm), and apical beam separation (mm). Body biometrics included total length (cm), chest circumference (cm), metatarsal length (cm), and full body mass (kg, Pesola®) (Herrero et al 2013). Antlers were measured using the old procedure of the Conseill International de la Chasse, which does not include the volume of antlers (CIC, 1977).…”

“…During the study period, roe deer density was 2.3 roe deer km -2 and the population was stable (l= 1.0) (Herrero et al 2013), unfenced, and not artificially fed.…”

Estimating red deer abundance using the pellet-based distance sampling method

“…A wide variety of techniques have been used to estimate ungulate density . Among indirect methods, pellet group counting has been widely used to estimate deer densities throughout the world (Marques et al 2001;Jathanna et al 2003;Smart et al 2004;Herrero et al 2013;Valente et al 2014) and while some authors have argued against it (e.g. Morellet et al 2007), others have recommended it, claiming that it can be used to efficiently assess the population size and trends (e.g.…”