Changes in wolf (Canis lupus l.) diet composition after the outbreak of African swine fever in Lithuania

Abstract

Damage made by wolves (Canis lupus L.), namely the loss of livestock as well as competition to hunters, remains the point of most contention and thus an examination of diet remains actual. The aim of this study was to find out changes in wolf diet composition after the outbreak of African swine fever in Lithuania.The samples for wolves’ diet were collected during 2019–2020 in various places of the country. It was examined 126 cases of wolves’ food remains: prey remains in locations of kills and consumption (n=39), content of stomachs (n=18) and scats (n=69). Data from scats and stomachs were pooled together, but the data from prey kills remnants were analyzed separately to escape the increase of big prey part in wolf diet. Composition of wolf food was expressed in two ways: the percentage of scats, which contained different prey species relative to the total number of analyzed samples (frequency of occurrence F%) and the percentage of biomass of a particular food component relative to the total biomass consumed by wolves (B%). Collected samples were classified into two seasons for analysis: winter (October–March) and summer (April–September). Studied examples were compared with research results from 2004–2012 period, when 225 samples were analysed. Wolf diet in this earlier research consisted mainly of Cervidae (roe deer and red deer) 43.4%, wild boar 33.0% and beaver 18.1%.