Scavenging on Ungulate Carcasses in a Mountain Forest Area in Northern Italy
| Autor: | Marco Apollonio, Daniele Battocchio, Elena Bassi, Andrea Marcon, Sophie Ståhlberg |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Mediterranean climate Ungulate biology Vulpes animal diseases food and beverages Zoology biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Scavenger 010601 ecology Canis Geography Wild boar biology.animal parasitic diseases Camera trap Animal Science and Zoology Carrion |
| Zdroj: | Mammal Study. 43:1-11 |
| ISSN: | 1348-6160 1343-4152 |
| DOI: | 10.3106/ms2016-0058 |
| Popis: | We investigated the scavenging behavior of some vertebrate species inhabiting a mountainous area of Eastern Tuscany (Italy). Fieldwork was conducted by using camera traps from July 2010 to June 2013. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) resulted to be the main scavenger species, followed by the wolf (Canis lupus), while the wild boar (Sus scrofa) resulted to be one of the less efficient scavengers, exploiting, in groups, only two carcasses. The wolf seemed to use carcasses mostly during the summer season, while no differences in red fox seasonal use of and visit to carcasses were detected. All the wild scavenger species showed a peak of activity between dusk and dawn, during both summer and winter, likely to minimize human disturbance. The red fox used carcasses whenever available, and in most cases it also was the first species arriving on a new carcass, with a very limited searching time. This paper represents the first Italian study on carrion use by Mediterranean vertebrate communities. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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