For migratory birds, sustainable harvest management based on quantitative modelling needs cross-border hunting bag statistics. At the European scale, proper modelling requires both reliable and mutually compatible hunting bag data between regions and countries. Owing to the absence of harmonisation among the different hunting bag collecting schemes in Europe and the lack of methodological metadata

Wildlife corridors are a policy tool to maintain or restore connectivity through human-modified landscapes. While corridors have been an important concept in wildlife conservation for decades, there is little evidence to guide their design. Specifically, width is one of the most contentious dimensions of corridors because it often limits industrial, residential, or recreational expansion. Building

The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) has a wide Holarctic geographical range, within which its status changes locally from threatened to abundant. For the correct management of populations under differing scenarios, accurate and precise estimates of bird abundances and/or densities are required. We used geolocated datasets from 56 counts of singing males carried out in 2003–2017 to estimate the density

The primary cause of the long-term decline in European hares’ (Lepus europaeus) population throughout Europe is widely assumed to be the intensification of agriculture. A critical component in this population dynamics is seen in the survival of leverets from birth to reproductive age. In European hares, the first stage of life until weaning has been sparsely studied, in particular habitat selection

The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon L.) is a medium-size carnivore widely distributed in Africa and in a small part of southern Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, where mongoose populations have recently expanded. The mongoose is relatively easily detectable because of its diurnal habits and because it is the only species of Herpestidae occurring in the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, its distribution

The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) is an important game species throughout Europe. In Italy, for preventing the introduction of allochthonous strains, the management of brown hare populations has focused on the establishment of small protected areas (ZRCs), appositely managed for disposing of wild-born hares for restocking hunting territories. We investigated the effects of both land cover and

Global climate change is a threat to the persistence of many species, particularly those that may experience climate-induced habitat loss, have limited dispersal ability, and a narrow ecological breadth. The collared pika (Ochotona collaris) is a small, cold-adapted mammal that meets these criteria. For species that are particularly vulnerable to climate warming, such as collared pika, conservation

The use of camera traps is a nonintrusive monitoring method to obtain valuable information about the appearance and behavior of wild animals. However, each study generates thousands of pictures and extracting information remains mostly an expensive, time-consuming manual task. Nevertheless, image recognition and analyzing technologies combined with machine learning algorithms, particularly deep learning

Information about bat migration routes across the Alps is generally scarce and there is no existing data available for the Italian part of the chain. Through acoustic surveys, we explored the possibility that even a region characterized by high Alpine mountains may be crossed by migrant bats. Data were recorded in August–September 2016 at two sites located near mountain passes in the Aosta Valley (NW

Amphibians, especially salamanders, are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their narrow dispersal abilities and strong dependence on water. In this study, we assessed the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of the Algerian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles nebulosus), a salamander species endemic of Algeria and Tunisia. Using the software “Maxent”, we predicted current and

Estimates of population density are crucial for wild felid conservation and are commonly conducted using camera trapping. Spatially explicit capture-recapture (SCR) survey designs often use two cameras per station to photograph both flanks of a spotted felid to confirm identities. However, if the sampling grid is inadequate, and detector devices are unable to capture an animal’s complete movements

We analyzed data from traffic counters installed on 143 Czech roads (motorways and primary roads) which precisely indicated current traffic volume during occurrences of ungulate-vehicle collisions (UVC). One thousand nine hundred ninety-five UVCs were identified over the period 2009–2015 on these 143 road segments. The overall range of annual average daily traffic (AADT) values, for the respective

Ungulates (mainly Cervidae and wild boar Sus scrofa) are considered among the most problematic wildlife suffering on roads and causing the largest material losses due to high densities of ungulate populations, spatial and temporal movement patterns, and body size of these animals. Roe deer–vehicle collision (RDVC) as the most usual cause of ungulate fatality on roads may be applied as an appropriate

Diet is important for understanding the ecology and evolution of populations. When examining animals’ diets, the lowest taxonomic rank (i.e., species level) is generally used. However, it is questionable whether dietary description varies with respect to the plant taxonomy or with the extent of plant species diversity in landscapes. We studied the diet of the Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis)

Faecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) analysis is a reliable non-invasive method used in field endocrinology studies to assess levels of stress in animals. It is known that weather and, above all, humidity, can affect FCM concentrations in faecal samples. In addition, the prolonged storage of samples and delay in their analysis may alter metabolite concentrations. Intrinsic factors such as the heterogeneous

More in-depth knowledge is required regarding the diet composition and food preferences of ungulates to improve our understanding of their different feeding strategies and mechanisms for adaptation. In particular, differences in energetic demands and feeding behaviors between the sexes, in sexually dimorphic species, may lead to significant dietary differences, which may partly explain sexual segregation

To monitor the extent and impact of human disturbances on landscapes and wildlife, managers often estimate zones of influence. Traditionally, zones of influence have been defined with constant width buffers around a disturbance; however, the importance of incorporating variation in landscape contexts and species responses is increasingly recognized. One way to better develop and apply these zones of

Increased demand for renewable energy has led to growth in the use of land for electricity generation and associated infrastructure. Land-based wind farms are amongst the commonest generators of renewable energy. To date, most research on the effects of wind farms on wildlife have focussed on birds and bats, with very little work on terrestrial taxa. We hypothesised that widely reported negative effects

Monitoring trends in the abundance of furbearers may be challenging, particularly at the spatio-temporal scales relevant for management. As such, wildlife managers often rely on harvest records to identify broad-scale harvest patterns and trends. Yet, the reliability of harvest records is often unknown. Analyses of harvest records to determine quotas and assess sustainability need to account for error

The current demographic expansion of red deer populations in the northern hemisphere has led to conflicts at the levels of health, the economy, and conservation. Potential tools for deer management include the delivery of contraceptives that impair reproduction in order to control populations or the delivery of treatments/vaccines in order to control health. To successfully implement these control

Replacement of native forests by exotic monoculture plantations is the principal driver of land change in central Chile; it reduces the richness and abundance of native mammals. The presence of shrub vegetation in mature pine plantation enhances habitat quality for small mammals. However, the role of structural complexity of shrub vegetation in young pine plantations after clearcutting remains unknown

The hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a rare and threatened species in many European countries. However, it is common and widespread in Lithuania where forest management practice, particularly small-scale clear-felling, is considered to be favourable for this species. The long-term study was carried out in regenerating clearing which fell in the area of the dormouse study site. The forest

Urban sprawl represents one of the most critical threats to biodiversity leading to the decline of rare and specialist species and the proliferation of a few dominant generalist ones. Among the winners there is the yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis, which has recently colonised towns, nesting on the roofs of buildings and feeding on urban waste by spreading the contents of garbage bags on the streets

Evaluating the population status of elusive and rare species is a challenge for wildlife managers and conservationists. A promising method that has been used is faecal pellet counting applied to the faecal standing crop (FSC) method. The FSC method estimates population density based on faecal pellets counted in a given area by using parameters such as defecation rate and faecal persistence, which vary

Evidence-based management of large carnivores is a crucial step towards their effective conservation. However, monitoring of these populations is demanding and generally requires substantial fieldwork effort. Lately, citizen science has become an increasingly important part of wildlife monitoring, but can that endanger studied species? In this paper, we describe our experiences with recruiting and

The original diversity of Pelophylax water frogs has been compromised by multiple biological invasions all over Western Europe. For the European pool frog (P. lessonae), the Joux Valley—a 30 km highland depression in northwestern Switzerland—stands as the last stronghold spared by exotic lineages. In order to manage P. lessonae in the valley, we combined traditional field surveys with environmental

In Eastern Europe, wind energy production is currently promoted as an important source of renewable energy, yet in most cases without appropriate consideration of the negative impacts wind turbines (WT) may have on protected species such as bats. Here, we present first data on fatality rates, fatality factors and the likely origin of bats killed by WT in the Dobrogea region (Romania), located in a

Ungulates suffer greatly from a variety of biting flies, the results of which decrease their feeding and resting time and force them to move to lower-quality habitats and unvegetated areas. This in turn leads to weight loss in adults, lower milk production in mothers, and growth retardation in young. An ungulate’s first line of defense against blood-sucking flies is its insect-repelling behaviors that

Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) populations are expanding across Europe. Depending on location, beaver dams bring multiple benefits and/or require management. Using nationally available data, we developed: a Beaver Forage Index (BFI), identifying beaver foraging habitat, and a Beaver Dam Capacity (BDC) model, classifying suitability of river reaches for dam construction, to estimate location and number

Emerging infectious diseases represent a key problem for the survival of amphibian populations. Declines related to infections of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Ranavirus have been described in several areas of Northern Spain, including protected areas. Co-infection—the simultaneous infection of a host by multiple pathogen species—can increase the susceptibility to subsequent

This article provides a first investigation on the attitude of South Tyrolean residents (northern Italy) toward the return of the wolf in their province. Data were collected through an online questionnaire, which was available for 54,527 residents (≥ 18 years old) of South Tyrol with internet access and a Facebook® account and was shared on the institute’s homepage. In total, 1818 valid responses were

The intensification of human activities is responsible for habitat loss which is the major cause of biodiversity regression. In this context, it becomes critical to consider with more attention highly transformed or artificial habitats that may have a significant value for biodiversity conservation. It is also equally important to evaluate the significance of management measures in remaining semi-natural

Synanthropic roosting may allow cave-dwelling bats to cope with habitat fragmentation provided that suitable buildings are sustainably protected. This study on Asinara Island, Sardinia, focuses on roost requirements in synanthropy at different life stages of two endangered bat species, Rhinolophus hipposideros and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. We rated the roost potential of 532 buildings and compared

Free-ranging dogs (Canis familiaris) negatively impact wildlife worldwide. Yet despite being members of the order Carnivora, we have relatively little information on the role that dogs play in carnivore communities. To evaluate if activity patterns of wild carnivores are influenced by the activity of dogs and if the latter is influenced by the activity of pumas (Puma concolor), we placed camera traps

We monitored the reproductive parameters of South China Tigers (SCT) in captivity from 1983 to 2018. Tigers gave birth in all but 3 months of the year, with a peak in May, June, and July (goodness of fit test, χ2 = 49.928, p = 0.000, n = 270 litters from 65 mothers). The minimum age at 1st reproduction was 4.96 ± 2.43 (standard deviation, SD) years. The mean interval between litters was 410.2 ± 290

The black grouse Lyrurus tetrix and the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus are known to produce hybrids in wild populations. In general, these hybrids are regarded as infertile; however, conclusive evidence that F1-hybrids are infertile and unable to backcross in the wild are lacking. Using a molecular approach, we examined the ancestry of a bird assumed to be a male hybrid based on phenotypic characters

During road construction, stormwater ponds are created to address sanitation, water treatment and the containment of any accidental pollution issues. These environments are not intended to be habitats, so exclosure measures (e.g. fences, barriers) are implemented to prevent animals to gain access to them. However, the modification of the natural landscape for human needs resulted in the disappearance

Agonistic encounters among carnivores can be potentially avoided or minimized by shifts in daily activity patterns. Here, we investigated the temporal ecology of mesocarnivores which co-occur in a semiarid area where top predators are virtually absent. More specifically, we (i) describe the daily activity patterns of six mesocarnivore species, (ii) evaluate possible seasonal changes in their daily

Traditional VHF radio-tracking is gradually being replaced by GPS tracking devices in spatial ecology studies, although both technologies continue to be used. Differences between tracking regimes (time and fix frequency) may lead to home range estimates that are not directly comparable. Our primary aim was to test the reliability of comparisons in home range estimates using different estimators (minimum

Large carnivores elicit strong emotional reactions, which could influence consensus or social conflicts between persons promoting wildlife conservation and people who suffer from its negative consequences. Interventions to prevent carnivore attacks on domestic animals are intended to promote coexistence between people and carnivores, but could fail to mitigate fear and social conflicts if emotions

The release of farm-reared game birds for hunting is an increasingly common game management practice. However, releasing could have negative effects on sympatric wild species, for example, through parasite transmission. Here, we document the spatial-temporal patterns and intensity of red-legged partridge releases in the province of Ciudad Real, Spain, over a 15-year period (2002–2016), relating them

Where large landscape modifications are planned, e.g. for infrastructure or exploitation, ecological impact assessments are required because of their potential effects on environment and species. Methods that make such assessments more standardized, efficient, and reliable are highly desirable. This paper proposes a new connectivity-based habitat model for bats (PREBAT), which could be used as a tool

The Amazonian grey brocket deer (Mazama nemorivaga) is a large mammal species that until now has been assumed to be limited to the Amazon region and has not been categorized to be threatened. In this study, we provide evidences, obtained by camera traps and faecal DNA, of the existence of two populations of this species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, more than a thousand kilometres away from its

The presence of feral pigeons (Columba livia) in anthropic environments often has a negative impact on human activities, public health, and historic buildings. A number of different kinds of dissuading devices, including gel repellents, are on the market. However, their efficacy has been rarely rigorously tested. We reported the effect of a recent multi-cue gel formulation (Bird Free®) on free-living

Assessing Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) mortality is a key for understanding population dynamics and adjusting hunting harvest and population management. We used radio-tagging and video-trapping to quantify piglet summer mortality in a managed (i.e. fenced and year-round fed) wild boar population from southern Spain. We used two independent tools to assess wild boar mortality, i.e. radio-tracking

In many cases, fences are effective against human-wildlife conflict if the fences are properly constructed and maintained. However, wildlife is able to intrude fences where they intersect with roads. The purpose of this study was to evaluate techniques and strategies for improving the effectiveness of barrier fences in these vulnerable areas. This study developed the grates which are directly laid

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) represents a serious threat to both survival of wild elephants and human economic activities at the local level in many African regions, but has been relatively little investigated in West Africa. Here, the ecological correlates of HEC and correlation between HEC and elephant poaching, are investigated in the PONASI complex of protected areas in Burkina Faso (West Africa)

Finding achievable ways to reduce roads’ impacts on wildlife is a conservation priority. Road verges may be important refuges for small fauna, making them good hunting sites for predators. These make both prey and predators vulnerable to vehicle collisions. Thus, actions aiming to dissuade these animals from approaching roads are needed. Here we tested the effectiveness of ultrasonic devices to keep

The Barbary partridge is one of the four species of Alectoris found in Mediterranean Basin. Its range is restricted to Sardinia, northwestern Africa, Gibraltar, and Canary Islands. It is classified as SPEC3 because its population is declining; nonetheless, its ecology is poorly known. Our aims were to define the habitat factors linked to the species presence, and which affects the breeding density

Wildlife poisoning is an important conservation threat for endangered species in India. There are no publications in the scientific literature that identify the specific poisons or chemicals involved in wildlife poisoning cases from the state of Kerala. In this report, all cases of wildlife mortality recorded between 2011 and 2013 at the office of the Assistant Forest Veterinary Officer, Periyar Tiger