The effect of a natural reduction of red fox Vulpes vulpes on small game hunting bags in Norway

Abstract

An epizootic of sarcoptic mange among red foxes Vulpes vulpes reached central Norway in 1976, and by 1986 it had spread to the whole country, resulting in a severe decline in the red fox population. We analyse the change in the hunting bags of the predator species red fox and pine marten Martes martes, and the prey species capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, black grouse Tetrao tetrix, mountain hare Lepus timidus and willow grouse Lagopus I. lagopus from the period prior to and during the mange epizootic. The data are gathered from publications by Statistics Norway and are based on answers from more than 5,000 hunters yearly. On the national level, the hunting bags of capercaillie, black grouse, mountain hare and pine marten were significantly negatively correlated with that of the red fox. When the time series at the national level were detrended, there were positive correlations between the hunting bags of all species without time lag, except that of pine marten, which lagged one year behind the other species. At the local level there were negative correlations between the hunting bag of red fox and those of the small game species except for willow grouse. The study confirms that the red fox is a keystone predator in Scandinavia.