The Effects of Feral Dogs on Wildlife in a Nature Reserve in Southern Turkey

Abstract

Feral dogs can negatively impact wildlife through predation, fear interceded behavioural changes, harassment, hybridisation, and disease transmission. Thus, the presence of feral dogs in nature reserves poses a major problem for wildlife conservation. In this study, we recorded the effects of free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) on wildlife species in a protected Mediterranean forest reserve in southern Turkey. By using camera traps and line transects we sought to understand how the presence of feral dogs impacted the main wildlife species in the study area. Applying presence-absence transect surveys and camera trapping techniques to estimate animal occurrence we covered approximately 97,00 ha and recorded 4209 images over a 154-week period. We found that the presence of feral dogs was significantly correlated with the movement of frequently observed wildlife species. Based on transect surveys, the species significantly affected by dog presence were fallow deer (Dama dama), wild boar (Sus scrofa), beech marten (Martes foina), badger (Meles meles), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Based on the camera trap data, fallow deer were negatively affected and wild boar not affected by dog occurrence while wild goat (Capra aegagrus) and caracal (Caracal caracal) were positively affected. The occurrence of wild boars, wild goats, hares, beech martens, red foxes and caracals across our study area increased with distance from agricultural land, while the occurrence of deer decreased. Overall, our findings suggest that the presence of dogs has a strong influence on wildlife in our study reserve. Since protected areas often are a final refuge for many of the species observed in this study, there is a need to take urgent measures to prevent feral dog impacts on wildlife and to reduce feral dog populations in wildlife reserves.