Where have all the young wolves gone? Traffic and cryptic mortality create a wolf population sink in Denmark and northernmost Germany. Issue 5 (17th May 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Where have all the young wolves gone? Traffic and cryptic mortality create a wolf population sink in Denmark and northernmost Germany. Issue 5 (17th May 2021)
- Main Title:
- Where have all the young wolves gone? Traffic and cryptic mortality create a wolf population sink in Denmark and northernmost Germany
- Authors:
- Sunde, Peter
Collet, Sebastian
Nowak, Carsten
Thomsen, Philip Francis
Hansen, Michael Møller
Schulz, Björn
Matzen, Jens
Michler, Frank‐Uwe
Vedel‐Smith, Christina
Olsen, Kent - Abstract:
- Abstract: Large carnivores are currently recolonizing Europe following legal protection, but increased mortality in landscapes highly impacted by humans may limit further population expansion. We analyzed mortality and disappearance rates of 35 wolves (of which three emigrated, nine died and 14 disappeared by 1 January 2020) by genetic monitoring in the heavily cultivated and densely populated Jutland peninsula (Denmark and Schleswig‐Holstein, Germany). Annual traffic kill rate estimates ranged from 0.37 (95% CI: 0.11–0.85) to 0.78 (0.51–0.96) in the German part, equivalent to 0.08 (0.02–0.29)–0.25 (0.13–0.46) for the entire region, in the absence of any registered Danish roadkills. In Denmark, annual mortality rate estimates ranged from 0.46 (0.29–0.67) to 0.52 (0.35–0.71), predominantly from cryptic mortality. Despite successful reproductions, we conclude the region is a wolf population sink, primarily driven by cryptic mortality, most likely illegal killing. We hypothesize that frequent encounters between wolves and wolf‐averse persecutors in cultivated landscapes may cause unsustainably high mortality rates despite the majority of hunters respecting protection laws.
- Is Part Of:
- Conservation letters. Volume 14:Issue 5(2021)
- Journal:
- Conservation letters
- Issue:
- Volume 14:Issue 5(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 14, Issue 5 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 5
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0014-0005-0000
- Page Start:
- n/a
- Page End:
- n/a
- Publication Date:
- 2021-05-17
- Subjects:
- Canis lupus -- Denmark -- genetic wildlife monitoring -- Germany -- human–wildlife conflict -- illegal killings -- large carnivores -- poaching -- recolonization -- roadkills -- source–sink
Biodiversity conservation -- Periodicals
Biodiversity -- Monitoring -- Periodicals
333.9516 - Journal URLs:
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1755-263X ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1111/conl.12812 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1755-263X
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 3418.068800
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 20450.xml