Abstract
Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is considered as a core area for Dinaric-Pindos/Dinaric-Balkan large carnivore populations. Unfortunately, little is known about their population parameters as well as feeding ecology which represents a serious threat to the management of those populations. This particularly applies to wolves (Canis lupus), which are constantly, throughout the year, under hunting pressure in a large part of the country. This paper represents the first systematic analysis of wolf feeding habits in B&H, providing the first results on wolf-livestock depredation. Results suggest that wild ungulates were the most important source of food, with domestic animals being a secondary source. Other types of prey or food items were of little significance in the wolf diet. The proportion of dog remains were among the highest in Europe. The results of the questionnaire indicate that sheep were the most often depredated (69%) livestock species. Rare usage of guardian dogs and electric fences resulted in increased losses of domestic animals. This paper represents the first contribution to better knowledge and future management plans of the wolf in B&H.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous (2009) Hunting Law. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republic of Srpska, Official Gazette of Republic of Srpska 60/09
Anonymous (2011) Decision on the prices of culling, using the game and hunting services. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republic of Srpska, Official Gazette of Republic of Srpska 40/11
Andersone Ž, Ozoliņš J (2004) Food habits of wolves Canis lupus in Latvia. Acta Theriol 49:357–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03192534
Ansorge H, Kluth G, Hahne S (2006) Feeding ecology of wolves Canis lupus returning to Germany. Acta Theriol 51:99–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03192661
Bruskotter JT, Wilson RS (2014) Determining where the wild things will be: using psychological theory to find tolerance for large carnivores. Conserv Lett 7:158–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12072
Capitani C, Chynoweth M, Kusak J, Çoban E, Şekercioğlu CH (2015) Wolf diet in an agricultural landscape of north-eastern Turkey. Mammalia 80:329–334. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2014-0151
Chapron G, Kaczensky P, Linnell JDC, von Arx M, Huber Đ, Andrén H, López-Bao JV, Adamec A, Álvares F, Anders O, Balčiauskas L, Balys B, Bedő P, Bego B, Blanco JC, Breitenmoser U, Brøseth H, Bufka L, Bunikyte R, Ciucci P, Dutsov A, Engleder T, Fuxjäger C, Groff C, Holmala K, Hoxha B, Iliopoulos Y, Ionescu O, Jeremić J, Jerina J, Kluth G, Knauer F, Kojola I, Kos I, Krofel M, Kubala J, Kunovac S, Kusak J, Kutal M, Liberg O, Majić A, Männil P, Manz R, Marboutin E, Marucco F, Melovski D, Mersini K, Mertzanis Y, Mysłajek RW, Nowak S, Odden J, Ozolins J, Palomero G, Paunović M, Persson J, Potočnik H, Quenette P, Rauer G, Reinhardt I, Rigg R, Ryser A, Salvatori V, Skrbinšek T, Stojanov A, Swenson JE, Szemethy L, Trajçe A, Tsingarska-Sedefcheva E, Váňa M, Veeroja R, Wabakken P, Wölfl P, Wölfl S, Zimmermann F, Zlatanova D, Boitani L (2014) Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes. Science 346:1517–1519. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1257553
Ciucci P, Artoni L, Crispino F, Tosoni E, Boitani L (2018) Inter-pack, seasonal and annual variation in prey consumed by wolves in Pollino National Park, southern Italy. Eur J Wildl Res 64:5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-018-1166-1
Cuesta L, Barcena F, Palacios F, Reig S (1991) The trophic ecology of the Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus Cabrera 1907). A new analysis of stomach's data. Mammalia 55:239–254. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.1991.55.2.239
Ćirović D, Penezić A (2018) Importance of slaughter waste in winter diet of wolves (Canis lupus) in Serbia. North West J Zool 15(2):175–178
Davis ML, Stephens PA, Willis SG, Bassi E, Marcon A, Donaggio E, Capitani C, Apollonio M (2012) Prey selection by an apex predator: the importance of sampling uncertainty. PLoS ONE 7(10):e47894. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047894
Day M (1966) Identification of hair and feather remains in the gut faces of stoats and weasels. J Zool 148:201–217
Djan M, Maletić V, Trbojević I, Popović D, Veličković N, Burazerović J, Ćirović D (2014) Genetic diversity and structuring of the grey wolf population from the Central Balkans based on mitochondrial DNA variation. Mamm Biol 79:277–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2014.03.001
Iliopoulos Y, Sgardelis S, Koutis V, Savaris D (2009) Wolf depredation on livestock in central Greece. Acta Theriol 54:11–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03193133
Jędrzejewska B, Jędrzejewski W (1998) Predation in vertebrate communities: the Białowieža primeval forest as a case of study. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.2307/176929
Jędrzejewski W, Jędrzejewska B, Okarma H, Ruprecht AL (1992) Wolf predation and snow cover as mortality factors in the ungulate community of the Białowieža National Park, Poland. Oecologia 90:27–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317805
Jędrzejewski W, Jędrzejewska B, Okarma H, Schmidt K, Zub K, Musiani M (2000) Prey selection and predation by wolves in Białowieža Primeval Forest, Poland. J Mamm 81:197–212. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/81.1.197
Kryštufek B (1999) Mammals. In: Kryštufek B, Janžeković F (eds) Key for determination of vertebrates of Slovenia. DZS, Ljubljana, pp 464–534
Lanszki J, Márkus M, Újváry D, Szabó A, Szemethy L (2012) Diet of wolves Canis lupus returning to Hungary. Acta Theriol 57:189–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-011-0063-8
Lescureux N, Linnell DCL (2014) Warning brothers: the complex interactions between wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris) in a conservation context. Biol Conserv 171:232–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.01.032
López-Bao JV, Kaczensky P, Linnell JDC, Boitani L, Chapron G (2015) Carnivore coexistence: wilderness not required. Science 348:871–872. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.348.6237.871-b
Mattioli L, Capitani C, Avanzinelli E, Bertelli I, Gazzola A, Apollonio M (2004) Predation by wolves (Canis lupus) on roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in north-eastern Apennine, Italy. J Zool 264:249–258. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095283690400576X
Meriggi A, Brangi A, Matteucci C, Sacchi O (1996) The feeding habits of wolves in relation to large prey availability in northern Italy. Ecography 19:287–295
Meriggi A, Brangi A, Schenone L, Signorelli D, Milanesi P (2011) Changes of wolf (Canis lupus) diet in Italy in relation to the increase of wild ungulate abundance. Ethol Ecol Evol 23:195–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2011.577814
Miller JRB, Stoner KJ, Cejtin MR, Meyer TK, Middleton AD, Schmitz OJ (2016) Effectiveness of contemporary techniques for reducing livestock depredations by large carnivores. Wildl Soc Bull 40:806–815. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.720
Mirić Đ (1970) Keys for identification of animals—mammals. Institut za biologijo, Univerzitetsko Društvo Biologov Slovenije, Ljubljana
Mori E, Benatti L, Lovari S, Ferreti F (2016) What does the wild boar mean to the wolf? Eur J Wildl Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-016-1060-7
Newsome TM, Boitani L, Chapron G, Ciucci P, Dickman CR, Dellinger JA, López-Bao JV, Peterson RO, Shores CR, Wirsing AJ, Ripple WJ (2016) Food habits of the world’s grey wolves. Mamm Rev 46:255–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12067
Nowak S, Mysłajeka RW, Kłosinśka A, Gabryś G (2011) Diet and prey selection of wolves (Canis lupus) recolonizing Western and Central Poland. Mamm Biol 76:709–715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2011.06.007
Petridou M, Youlatos D, Lazarou Y, Selinides K, Pylidis C, Giannakopoulos A, Kati V, Iliopoulos Y (2019) Wolf diet and livestock selection in central Greece. Mammalia. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2018-0021
Reynolds JC, Aebischer NJ (1991) Comparison and quantification of carnivore diet by faecal analysis: a critique, with recommendations, based on a study of the fox Vulpes vulpes. Mammal Rev 21:97–122
Ripple WJ, Estes JA, Beschta RL, Wilmers CC, Ritchie EG, Hebblewhite M, Berger J, Elmhagen B, Letnic M, Nelson MP, Schmitz OJ, Smith DW, Wallach AD, Wirsing AJ (2014) Status and ecological effects of the world’s largest carnivores. Science 343:1241484. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241484
Sidorovich VE, Tikhomirova LL, Jędrzejewska B (2003) Wolf, (Canis lupus), numbers, diet and damage on livestock in relation to hunting and ungulate abundance in northeastern Belarus during 1990–2000. Wildl Biol 9:103–111. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.2003.032
Sokal RR, Rohlf SJ (1995) Biometry: the principles and practices of statistics in biological research, 3rd edn. W.H. Freeman, New York, p 887
Stahlberg S, Bassi E, Viviani V, Apollonio M (2017) Quantifying prey selection of Northern and Southern European wolves (Canis lupus). Mamm Biol 83:34–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2016.11.001
Stone SA, Breck SW, Timberlake J, Haswell PM, Najera F, Bean BS, Thornhill DJ (2017) Adaptive use of nonlethal strategies for minimizing wolf–sheep conflict in Idaho. J Mamm 98:33–44. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw188
Teerink BJ (1991) Hair of West European mammals. Atlas and identification key. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Trbojević I (2016) Distribution of grey wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (in Serbian with English summary). Bull Fac Uni Banja Luka 25:41–49. https://doi.org/10.7251/GSF1625041T
Trbojević I, Ćirović D (2016) Sexual dimorphism and population differentiation of the wolf (Canis lupus) based on morphometry in the Central Balkans. North West J Zool 12:349–355.e151709
Zlatanova D, Ahmed A, Valasseva A, Genov P (2014) Adaptive diet strategy of the wolf (Canis lupus L.) in Europe: a review. Acta Zool Bul 66:439–452
Acknowledgements
We thank Peco Angjelski for improving the English.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Handling editor: Francesco Ferretti.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trbojević, I., Penezić, A., Kusak, J. et al. Wolf diet and livestock depredation in North Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mamm Biol 100, 499–504 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00053-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00053-7