Anthropogenic effects on the feeding habits of wolves in an altered arid landscape of central Iran
-
Mahdieh Tourani
,
Ehsan M. Moqanaki
Abstract
We determined the diet of the poorly-studied Middle Eastern wolves (Canis lupus) in central Iran in 2009–2010. Food items consisted mainly of farmed chicken and domestic goat (i.e., anthropogenic resources) using both qualification and quantification methods. In contrast, we identified the remains of wild ungulates in negligible quantities. Our data simulations showed that poultry and goats are both primary food items of wolves in the study area. The relative importance of main prey items did not vary seasonally, and, although there were some minor differences in secondary food items, we did not reveal any seasonal effect in diet composition. The negligible consumption of wild prey strongly suggests that wolves are not, at present, a limiting factor for wild prey in our study area. Appropriate management of illegal dumping, in conjunction with excluding wolves and other carnivores from human refuse, would minimize the chance of human-carnivore encounters, wolf-livestock conflicts and, in turn, the persecution of carnivores. Our study contributed to our knowledge of the feeding ecology of the Middle Eastern wolves in areas with a relatively high abundance of anthropogenic foods and a moderately low abundance of wild prey.
We thank the Yazd DoE for permission to conduct this study in the MNA. Logistic assistance was provided by the Meybod Office of the DoE. We are grateful to B. H. Kiabi, H. Akbari, A. Kargar, A. Habibipoor, H. Abbasian, A. Jafari, H. Akhavan, Kh. Mollajafari, M. Guerisoli, O. Gallo, E. Waldemarson and L. Persmark, for their cooperation in different stages of this work. J. G. Sanderson (Wildlife Conservation Network) and A. Kh. Hamidi (Plan for the Land Society) provided the camera- traps, and S. Gupta edited the English style of the manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. M. T. was partially supported by a research grant from Lund University.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Review
- Population and community dynamics and habitat selection of rodents in complex desert landscapes
- Original Studies
- Social thermoregulation in least shrews, Cryptotis parva
- Environmental variables and reproductive activity in small rodents of pampean agroecosystems
- Feeding habits of the common genet (Genetta genetta) in the area of Djurdjura, north of Algeria
- Snow cover and riparian habitat determine the distribution of the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) at its southern range limits in arid western North America
- Surprising low abundance of European wildcats in a Mediterranean protected area of southwestern Spain
- Distribution and spread of an introduced insular population of red-bellied squirrels (Sciurus aureogaster) in Florida
- Ranging patterns of François’ langur in a fragmented habitat in Fusui Reserve, Guangxi Province, China
- Root cellars are important winter roosts for brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) and northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii) in Latvia
- Interindividual variations in fruit preferences of the yellow-shouldered bat Sturnira lilium (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a cafeteria experiment
- A preliminary investigation into the endoparasite load of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Ireland
- Using craniometrical predictors to infer body size of Antillean manatees
- Short Notes
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- Reproductive data of a threatened bat, Myotis ruber (É. Geoffroy, 1806) (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in a southern Brazilian deciduous seasonal forest
- First record of Micronycteris sanborni (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Central Amazonia, Brazil: range expansion and description of its echolocation
- Recent record of the Asiatic lesser yellow house bat (Scotophilus kuhlii) from Punjab, Pakistan
