Abstract
Management of free-ranging wildlife may include the capture of animals, with the implication that the capture process is optimized, both logistically and economically and in a way that avoids animal suffering, injury or accidental mortality. Studies targeting the optimization of trapping techniques are scarce, especially when focusing on large European mammals. Therefore, to fill this knowledge gap, we aimed to evaluate key factors that help determine brown bear capture success. This was done by analysing a complete data set from 23 years of capturing free-living Eurasian brown bears in Croatia by using Aldrich-type foot snares. Results showed significantly higher capture efficiency when traps were located at permanent feeding sites when compared to temporary feeding sites. Also, the use of a trail trap design was significantly more efficient in capturing bears than using a cubby set. Finally, results showed that trapping was more efficient when we bait the traps more frequently and when we implemented longer trap-sessions, with at least 14 days.
Funding source: LIFE DINALP BEAR 10.13039/100013288
Award Identifier / Grant number: LIFE13 NAT/SI/000550
Funding source: European Union’s Horizon 2020 10.13039/100010661
Award Identifier / Grant number: 665778
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2016/23/P/NZ9/03951
Funding source: Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência (FCT/MEC) 10.13039/501100001871
Award Identifier / Grant number: UIDB/00329/2020
Funding source: Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)
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Author contributions: DH and SR conceived of the presented idea and data collection. JP contributed to the data collection in 2017. JP and LMR performed the data analysis and results interpretation. JP took the lead in writing the manuscript together with LMR. NB contributed significantly to editing and English language reviewing. All authors provided critical feedback to the manuscript.
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Research funding: This work was supported by the (1) “LIFE DINALP BEAR” project (grant no. LIFE13 NAT/SI/000550; doi: 10.13039/100013288) and from the (2) European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska – Curie grant agreement no. 665778 through National Science Centre in Poland, within the frames of project no. 2016/23/P/NZ9/03951 (BearHealth; doi: 10.13039/100010661). LMR was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência (FCT/MEC) funding to the cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change (UIDB/00329/2020; doi: 10.13039/501100001871) through national funds and the co-funding by the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Research ethics: Bear trapping in Croatia was performed under the relevant permits since the start of the project. Permits were issued by the Ministry for Nature Protection and Energy (the most recent one: UP/1-612-07/19-48/76 (URBROJ: 517-05-1-1-19-2, issued 02.04.2019, valid until 31.03.2021) and the Ministry of Agriculture (the most recent one: UP/I 232-03/19-01/102 (URBROJ 525-11/1029-19-2, issued 26.04.2019, valid until 31.12.2019).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Ecology
- Factors influencing the success of capturing European brown bears with foot snares
- First tracking of an eastern spotted skunk litter from birth to independence
- A snapshot of rodents and shrews of agroecosystems in Ethiopian highlands using camera traps
- First photographic record of albinism in Baiomys taylori (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- First record for a partial Isabelline colouration in a European mole, Talpa europaea, from Central Italy
- The natural history of the Stenodermatinae Chiroderma doriae vizottoi Taddei and Lim 2010 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in a semiarid region from Brazil
- Free-ranging Van Gelder’s bat Bauerus dubiaquercus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) preying on dung beetles in southern Mexico
- First report of albinism in a lactating female of the chestnut long-tongued bat Lionycteris spurrelli Thomas, 1913 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae)
- Fruits consumed by phyllostomid bats in a Peruvian Yungas forest: new dietary items for Chiroderma salvini and Lonchophylla handleyi
- Conservation
- Distribution of introduced American mink in the Northern Apennine area (Central Italy)
- A re-discovery of Coelops frithii (Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) from its type locality after one and a half century
- Ethology
- Vocalizations of the Sepia short-tailed Opossum Monodelphis adusta (Thomas, 1897, Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)
- Evolutionary Biology
- Sexual size dimorphism and geographic variation in forearm length of Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) and Southeastern Myotis (Myotis austroriparius)
- Dental formula variations in wild and domestic Sus scrofa: is the first premolar agenesis an evolutionary trend?
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- Morphological and molecular confirmation of the common pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus Schreber, 1774 (Vespertilionidae: Chiroptera), in Xinjiang, China
- Discovery of Kerivoula kachinensis and a validity of K. titania (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in China
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Ecology
- Factors influencing the success of capturing European brown bears with foot snares
- First tracking of an eastern spotted skunk litter from birth to independence
- A snapshot of rodents and shrews of agroecosystems in Ethiopian highlands using camera traps
- First photographic record of albinism in Baiomys taylori (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- First record for a partial Isabelline colouration in a European mole, Talpa europaea, from Central Italy
- The natural history of the Stenodermatinae Chiroderma doriae vizottoi Taddei and Lim 2010 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in a semiarid region from Brazil
- Free-ranging Van Gelder’s bat Bauerus dubiaquercus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) preying on dung beetles in southern Mexico
- First report of albinism in a lactating female of the chestnut long-tongued bat Lionycteris spurrelli Thomas, 1913 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae)
- Fruits consumed by phyllostomid bats in a Peruvian Yungas forest: new dietary items for Chiroderma salvini and Lonchophylla handleyi
- Conservation
- Distribution of introduced American mink in the Northern Apennine area (Central Italy)
- A re-discovery of Coelops frithii (Chiroptera, Hipposideridae) from its type locality after one and a half century
- Ethology
- Vocalizations of the Sepia short-tailed Opossum Monodelphis adusta (Thomas, 1897, Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)
- Evolutionary Biology
- Sexual size dimorphism and geographic variation in forearm length of Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) and Southeastern Myotis (Myotis austroriparius)
- Dental formula variations in wild and domestic Sus scrofa: is the first premolar agenesis an evolutionary trend?
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- Morphological and molecular confirmation of the common pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus Schreber, 1774 (Vespertilionidae: Chiroptera), in Xinjiang, China
- Discovery of Kerivoula kachinensis and a validity of K. titania (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in China