Diet and prey selection of wolves ( Canis lupus) recolonising Western and Central Poland

Abstract

Wolf Canis lupus diet was studied by scat analysis in four main and several other locations recolonised by this species in Central and Western Poland between 2002 and 2009. Wild ungulates made up 94.8% of the total biomass of food consumed, with the most common being roe deer Capreolus capreolus (42.8%), wild boar Sus scrofa (22.6%) and red deer Cervus elaphus (22.2%). Supplementary prey were: fallow deer Dama dama (2.7%), brown hare Lepus europeus (2.5%) and Eurasian beaver Castor fiber (1.4%). Domestic animals, exclusively dogs and cats, made up 1.0% of food biomass. A high similarity in the ratio of wild ungulate species in wolf food biomass between study sites was observed. Wolves hunted wild ungulate species accordingly to their relative abundance in the community. As wild ungulates are abundant and livestock density is low the large forest tracts of Western Poland seems to be very good habitat for wolves. Therefore, with more dispersing wolves from Eastern Poland and Eastern Germany, wolf recovery could significantly accelerate in the next few years in this region.