Eastern Fennoscandian Wolf (<i>Canis lupus</i> L.) under the Heavy Hunting Pressure: mtDNA Analysis as a Tool to Assess Hunting Impact on the Population-Genetic Structure

Abstract

One of the most ancient aspects of human impact on the wild animals is hunting. The degree of human impact on one of the Eastern Fennoscandian wolf (Canis lupus L.) population based on the analysis of data on the population dynamics of the predator and its preys, “hunting bag” data, changes in the spatial-temporal structure and genetic characteristics, is shown. In the presented work, a genetic analysis of the control region mtDNA of the wolf of the Republic of Karelia (Russia) and the experimental territory (Kondopozhsky district of Karelia) was performed on a time slice of 10 years. The modern mtDNA haplotypic diversity of Russian Karelian and Finnish wolf population, in comparison with the general diversity characteristic for the species, is poor. In total, only two haplotypes common in Eurasia have been identified here, which is obviously explained by the history of the species – the stages of severe population decline.