Abstract
Large carnivores are essential components of natural ecosystems. In populated areas, their conservation depends on preserving a favorable status in coexistence with humans, which may require the elimination of excess carnivores to minimize public concerns. As the Baltic region currently hosts a thriving wolf population, locally sustainable management of wolves is important for preserving biodiversity at a European scale. In this paper, we provide a dynamic assessment of the Latvian wolf subpopulation from 1998 until 2020. This study is based on age composition and fecundity data from teeth, uteri, and ovaria inspections obtained from samples of legally culled or accidentally killed individuals. The abundance estimates indicated population growth that exceeded the previously predicted carrying capacity. The proportion of juveniles among the culled individuals increased in recent years, but the mean age of culled adults exhibited a stable trend. In presumably nonselective hunting, the juveniles and individuals older than 3 years had greater culling mortality estimates in comparison with other age classes, and the culling rates for adult females of particular age classes were higher than for males of the same age. While creating significant hunting pressure, wolf management in Latvia may have contributed to the population growth by affecting its demographic processes.
Highlights
Published: 31 August 2021In modern human-dominated landscapes where large carnivores coexist with people in relatively close proximity, their future conservation as key wildlife components depends on sharing the same landscape, which requires public understanding and supportive participation in terms of sustainable management, protective legislation, and damage prevention or compensation [1,2,3,4]
The official wolf abundance estimates by the SFS and our virtual population analysis indicated that the Latvian wolf subpopulation increased during the last two decades despite continuous culling
A reliable wolf census has not been continuously applied; the actual wolf abundance in Latvia remains unknown, and the extent of the population growth has to be interpreted with caution
Summary
Published: 31 August 2021In modern human-dominated landscapes where large carnivores coexist with people in relatively close proximity, their future conservation as key wildlife components depends on sharing the same landscape, which requires public understanding and supportive participation in terms of sustainable management, protective legislation, and damage prevention or compensation [1,2,3,4]. Gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758), regarded as competitors for game, pests in livestock breeding, and threats to public safety, have been persecuted and even locally eradicated throughout Europe and North America. Their recolonization in previously inhabited areas and their population growth have been achieved by conservation efforts such as legal protection favoring natural population reestablishment and sometimes deliberate translocation of individuals [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Wolves are hunted for sport or to obtain trophies
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