We conducted a pilot study to test the usefulness of Global Positioning System (GPS) collars for investigating wolf (Canis lupus) predation on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns. Using GPS collars with short location-attempt intervals on 5 wolves and 5 deer during summers 2002–2004 in northeastern Minnesota, USA, demonstrated how this approach could provide new insights into wolf hunting behavior of fawns. For example, a wolf traveled ≥1.5–3.0 km and spent 20–22 hours in the immediate vicinity of known fawn kill sites and ≥0.7 km and 8.3 hours at scavenging sites. Wolf travel paths indicated that wolves intentionally traveled into deer summer ranges, traveled ≥0.7–4.2 km in such ranges, and spent <1–22 hours per visit. Each pair of 3 GPS-collared wolf pack members were located together for ≤6% of potential locations. From GPS collar data, we estimated that each deer summer range in a pack territory containing 5 wolves ≥1 year old and hunting individually would be visited by a wolf on average every 3–5 days. This approach holds great potential for investigating summer hunting behavior of wolves in areas where direct observation is impractical or impossible.
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1 November 2007
Testing Global Positioning System Telemetry to Study Wolf Predation on Deer Fawns
DOMINIC J. DEMMA,
SHANNON M. BARBER-MEYER,
L. DAVID MECH
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Journal of Wildlife Management
Vol. 71 • No. 8
November 2007
Vol. 71 • No. 8
November 2007
Canis lupus
global positioning system (GPS) collars
movements
Odocoileus virginianus
predation
telemetry
white-tailed deer