Abstract
It has been postulated that red foxes (Vulpesvulpes) inhabiting Prince Edward Island National Park (Canada) make very little use of natural food sources and that anthropogenic food play an integral part in their diet. The use of anthropogenic food sources has also been associated with an increased number of fatal fox vehicle-collisions in the park. The main goal of this study was to examine the composition of the diet of foxes inhabiting Prince Edward Island National Park and to compare this diet with foxes found in other areas of the island. In particular, we examined the importance of anthropogenic food items in foxes inhabiting the national park. We analyzed 38 stomachs from foxes killed by trappers or vehiclesduring late fall and early winter within and outside the national park. Our results showed that rodents and vegetation were the most common food items present in fox stomachs whether the animals were obtained from within or outside the park. Values of coefficient of variation of food items found in fox stomachs indicated a great diversity in diet composition. However, only six stomachs contained anthropogenic food items. Stomachs of foxes killed by vehicles contained twice the amount of anthropogenic food items than those that were collected from trappers. Overall, our findings indicate that anthropogenic food items are only a minor component in the diet of foxes occurring within the park, at least during the period of time examined in this study. Future studies should examine diet composition during other seasons when the quantity and quality of anthropogenic food sources is different.
Highlights
In Prince Edward Island (Canada), the red fox (Vulpesvulpes; called fox) was the largest mammalian carnivore species until the arrival of coyotes (Canislatrans) during the early 1980s
Overall our findings showed that anthropogenic food items represented only a minor component of the diet of foxes either inside or outside Prince Edward Island National Park (PEINP) during late fall and early winter
Our results do not provide support for other studies conducted on Prince Edward Island (PEI) (Silva-Opps & Opps, 2011; Silva et al, 2009; Lambe, 2014) that suggested that anthropogenic food items are important components of the diet of foxes throughout the whole year, including the time period examined during this study
Summary
In Prince Edward Island (Canada), the red fox (Vulpesvulpes; called fox) was the largest mammalian carnivore species until the arrival of coyotes (Canislatrans) during the early 1980s. No studies have assessed the abundance of foxes on Prince Edward Island (PEI), it is commonly known that they occur throughout the whole province, including urban areas. Regardless of this widespread distribution, little is known about the ecology and behaviour of this species in PEI. Improving our knowledge of diet and food preference of foxes occurring in PEINP can help to elucidate the importance of anthropogenic food sources in the diet of these animals It can provide a better understanding of the adverse effects that fox-feeding may have on this mammalian predator in PEINP and other areas of the province (e.g., urban areas) where fox-feeding is a common activity. We were interested in examining the effects of climatic factors on the choice of food items during late fall and early winter
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