The Scottish populations of salmonids are important both ecologically and economically. Game fisheries for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, sea trout Salmo trutta trutta and brown trout Salmo trutta fari are all highly acclaimed and generate substantial levels of income for Scotland, but many populations are in decline and efforts are being made to ensure the future sustainability of these species. These declines have led to a focus on the impact of piscivorous bird predation on fish populations. The purpose of our review was to assess the evidence for population-level impacts on salmonid populations, and/or economic impacts on Scottish game fisheries of predation by the four primary UK freshwater piscivorous bird species: cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, goosander Mergus merganser, red-breasted merganser Mergus serrator and grey heron Ardea cinerea. There is evidence that these birds can, in some situations, remove large numbers of fish from stocked and natural fisheries. However, a lack of information on fish population levels, the numbers and species composition of feeding birds, and robust calculations of fish consumption has hampered the conversion of the results of the existing studies into useful quantitative measures of impact. As a consequence, few studies have demonstrated any reductions in numbers of breeding fish or fish productivity due to predation by piscivorous birds, or direct economic loss to fisheries in Scotland. We support a previous recommendation for a reiterative procedure of modelling, experimentation and remodelling to assess the impacts of piscivorous birds on fisheries. Wide-scale studies of the movements of piscivorous birds, their feeding locations in relation to river characteristics, and the factors that make fish particularly vulnerable to predation are seen as important areas for future research.

Release of Galliformes species is common management practice in Europe and North America. Here, we attempt to synthesise available information on the release of wild-caught and captive-reared galliforms, and discuss how rearing and release techniques affect release success. Galliforms are released into the wild to increase hunted populations with after-hunting-season releases, to establish new populations, to augment threatened populations, and to be used for ‘put and take’ shooting. We conclude that the release of artificially reared galliforms after the hunting season is not suitable practice to increase an already viable population. Release for ‘put and take’ shooting is an alienated form of hunting, and it raises ethical questions. ‘Put and take’ should be strictly examined in the context of wildlife conservation, hunting culture, philosophy and economy. In the case of population establishment and augmentation, translocation of wild-caught birds is by far the best choice. The alternative choice is release of naturally or semi-naturally reared birds and anti-predator trained birds. Galliform release should not be a stereotyped process with many failures, but rather a practice in which correct techniques are used for the pursued aim.

Hunting of eiders Somateria mollissima from motorboats is common in Danish marine waters, and to reduce hunting pressure on eiders and other diving duck species in Denmark, motorboat hunting was banned within 42 marine sites covering an area of 2,934 km², although the effects of this regulation have to date not been examined. Our case study analyses the effects of excluding motorboat hunting from an area of 682 km² of the Danish Wadden Sea (hereafter the ‘Study Area’) which also supported a large area of blue mussel beds, the preferred food for eiders. Our study covered the entire Danish Wadden Sea (total area 1,225 km²) during the hunting seasons (October-February) of 1980–2003 using 85 aerial surveys of eiders and motorboats used by hunters. Eider numbers increased by 56% in the Study Area following the ban on motorboat hunting despite a 50% reduction in the eider flyway population over the same period. There was a significant negative relationship between the density of hunter motorboats and that of eiders on a small geographical scale (1.8–2.5 km). Motorboat hunting in the Study Area also affected eider distribution at larger geographical scales (4–12 km), displacing eiders from the Study Area offshore from the Wadden Sea into the North Sea. Following the ban on motorboat hunting, most eiders occurred in the Study Area. Winter (21 December-31 January) body condition of eiders was greater in the Study Area than the body condition of eiders in the Offshore Area during autumn (20 October-20 December). Eider abundance relative to blue mussel biomass significantly increased after motorboat hunting was banned in the Study Area, but there was no such change during winter after the hunting ban. Since the ban on motorboat hunting in the Study Area, eider numbers throughout the entire Danish Wadden Sea seem to be regulated by total blue mussel biomass.

In order to provide a basis for the sustainable exploitation of the heavily hunted Iberian hare Lepus granatensis, we compared its reproductive parameters at the northern edge of its range, where it occurs at low densities, with those reported in other studies elsewhere within the species' range. Monthly samples totalling 212 Iberian hares (104 males and 108 females) were collected in the province of Navarra during November 2001 - December 2002. Reproductive parameters varied only slightly from season to season. Sexually competent males, defined by the presence of epididymal spermatozoa, were present in all bimonthly periods. Reproductively active adult females were also present in all the bimonthly periods, although a slight seasonality was detected: the highest incidence of pregnancy and lactation (100%) occurred in March-April, while the lowest incidence of adult females that were neither pregnant nor lactating (15%) occurred in September-December. Mean annual litter size was 2.09 and the theoretical value of annual young production per female was estimated to be 16.1, which is much higher than estimates reported in studies of L. granatensis in Portugal and southern Spain. In Navarra, which is at the northern limit of the species' range, densities are low due to intense hunting. However, the observed reproductive potential was surprisingly high and facilitates recruitment to the population which could, to a certain extent, make up for the high hunting pressure in the area.

The Mongolian hunting law does not mention the wolf Canis lupus, which is generally interpreted in the way that wolves can be hunted anytime and anywhere, including in protected areas. We investigated whether the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (SPA), a strict nature reserve in southwestern Mongolia, acts as a refuge or a sink for wolves in the Gobi. Our expectations were that wolves in the Gobi 1) have large ranges similar to those in other equally unproductive habitats, 2) experience a high hunting pressure, and 3) have recently become an important export item for cross-border trade to China. We combined GPS positions of two adult wolves, wolf harvest data and a market survey on wildlife products to address the above questions. Range use of the two collared wolves was huge, but varied widely between the two animals (6,670 km² for an adult female and 26,619 km² for an adult male) and over time. Reproductive status and residency status were only known during the initial 8-months monitoring period of the female. During this ‘resident’ period her range size was 1,275 km². Both wolves showed a clear preference of mountainous terrain over flat steppe, suggesting that only 21% of the SPA constitute preferred wolf habitat. Annual harvest in the park and its vicinity averaged 1 wolf/265 km² in 2002/03, 1 wolf/120 km² in 2003/04 and 1 wolf/310 km² in 2004/05. However, hunting pressure was unequally distributed and particularly high in the northeastern corner of the park. During the active monitoring period of wolf F1, 35 wolves were killed within her ‘resident’ range, suggesting a high hunting pressure. Most wolves were shot from motorised vehicles, possibly explaining the preference of wolves for mountainous terrain which is inaccessible for vehicles. The market surveys revealed products from ∼2,000 wolves on the two border markets, a huge discrepancy to only 150 CITES permits officially issued annually. Although our data are insufficient to allow a truly quantitative assessment of the impact of human induced mortality on wolf conservation status in the Great Gobi B SPA, it points towards a potentially severe conservation problem requiring further attention.

During October 1999 - October 2003, we monitored 26 adult raccoon dogs Nyctereutes procyonoides using radio-telemetry in an area of Germany which has been occupied by this invasive alien species since the early 1990s. No adult animals dispersed from the area during the study period and home ranges tended to be used for several years, probably for life. The average annual home-range size, calculated using 95% fixed kernel, was 382.2 ha±297.4 SD for females (N=30 seasonal home ranges) and 352.4 ha±313.3 for males (N=32 seasonal home ranges). Paired raccoon dogs had home ranges of similar size (P=0.203), with pairs sharing the same area all year round (P<0.001). Raccoon dogs occupied large core areas (85% kernel) covering 81.2% of their home ranges. The home ranges were at their smallest during the mating season. The slightly larger size of home ranges in winter suggests that, due to the temperate climate, raccoon dogs do not hibernate in Germany. Males and females formed a long-term (probably lifelong) pair bond. Same-sex neighbours ignored each other and even adjacent males/females showed neither preference nor avoidance. Thus, based on the results of home-range overlap analysis and interaction estimations, it can be assumed that the raccoon dog in Central Europe is monogamous without exclusive territories.

Radio-telemetry is often the method of choice for studies of species whose behaviour is difficult to observe directly. However, considerable debate has ensued about the best way of deriving home-range estimates. In recent years, kernel estimators have become the most widely used method, together with the oldest and simplest method, the minimum convex polygon (MCP). More recently, it has been suggested that the local convex hull (LCH) might be more appropriate than kernel methods in cases where an animal's home range includes a priori inaccessible areas. Yet another method, the Brownian bridge (BB), explicitly uses autocorrelated data to determine movement paths and, ultimately, home ranges or migration routes of animals. Whereas several studies have used simulation techniques to compare these different methods, few have used data from real animals. We used radio-telemetric data from urban badgers Meles meles to compare two sampling protocols (10-minute vs at least 30-minute inter-fix intervals) and four home-range estimators (MCP, fixed kernels (FK), LCH and BB). We used a multi-response permutation procedure and randomisation tests to compare overall patterns of fixes and degree of overlap of home ranges estimated using data from different sampling protocols, and a general linear model to compare the influence of sampling protocols and home-range estimator on the size of habitat patches. The shape of the estimated home ranges was influenced by sampling protocol in some cases. By contrast, the sizes and proportions of different habitats within home ranges were influenced by estimator type but not by sampling protocol. LCH performed consistently better than FK, and is especially appropriate for patchy study areas containing frequent no-go zones. However, we recommend using LCH in combination with other methods to estimate total range size, because LCH tended to produce smaller estimates than any other method. Results relating to BB are preliminary but suggest that this method is unsuitable for species in which range size is small compared to average travel speed.

Similar to earlier studies, a population of woodland caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou in west-central Manitoba, Canada, showed preference for mature coniferous forests and fidelity to seasonal home ranges. However, because preferred forest types were common in the study area, these findings could not determine what would happen if these home ranges were disturbed because the relative importance of preference for these forest types and home-range fidelity in determining the space use of this population was not known. This question was explored using an individual-based space-use model that incorporates a random movement component, a habitat value function that considers these two factors individually or together, and a decision optimisation component. Four possible forms of the model were used to conduct Monte-Carlo simulations of space-use patterns, which were compared to true range-use patterns over an annual cycle. True range use could not be simulated without including a home-range fidelity factor in the model. This suggests that there is some factor about the selected home ranges that is not quantified by the forest type which is currently present that causes animals in this population to show fidelity to them. The explanation most consistent with the general understanding of the factors limiting this species is that these home ranges are refuges from predation. This suggests that the appropriate conservation action is to protect these ranges from disturbance unless the animals themselves demonstrate the presence of other suitable areas by dispersing to them.

Although ground counts are often used to monitor ungulate populations, several studies show that counts of ungulates have low precision and often underestimate population size. We assessed the reliability of ibex Capra ibex counts as performed in French national parks, by analysing up to 23 years of annual censuses of six ibex populations for which a subset of animals were individually marked. We compared the population growth rate obtained from census data (estimated by use of four different methods) with the growth rate calculated from a demographic model including parameters estimated from capture-mark-recapture methods. The correlations between count-based estimates and growth rate obtained from demographic models were adequate to suggest that ground counts can monitor trends in population size of ibex, provided that the occasional undercounts are identified. Substantial undercounts in some years led to biologically impossible values of yearly population growth (λ>1.35) and, in the longest time series available, to marked autocorrelations in counts. Managers should replicate counts within the same year to check for underestimated counts. To reduce errors, population biologists analysing time series of ungulate counts should check the plausibility of annual growth rates estimated from two consecutive counts.

Scat analyses are commonly applied to study feeding ecology of carnivores. Factors developed in feeding trials are often used to convert dry matter mass of scat remainders to fresh matter mass of killed or scavenged prey. In our study, we aimed at: 1) presenting conversion factors (CFs) of roe deer Capreolus capreolus, European hare Lepus europaeus and house mice Mus musculus digested by wolf Canis lupus, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and red fox Vulpes vulpes, 2) comparing CFs derived from fox exposed to different feeding levels (fasted vs non-fasted before each feeding trial), 3) comparing effects of using different mesh sizes in the lab procedure on CFs, 4) comparing effects of applying CFs derived from wolf, lynx and fox to wolf scats, and 5) quantifying biases caused by inappropriate procedures in scat analyses. Feeding level, use of different mesh sizes, and application of predator-specific CFs affected the estimated number of killed prey individuals. The greatest deviations were found for the feeding level in regard to roe deer and European hare, and for the application of lynx CFs of roe deer and European hare to wolf scats. The strong relationship between prey use and CFs in our study may be used to estimate prey numbers from scats more precisely: in cases of low prey use, we suggest applying CFs derived from non-fasted carnivores, and in cases of high prey use CFs from fasted conspecifics are more appropriate. We recommend applying predator-prey specific CFs and using the same mesh size on which these CFs are based. The presented CFs allow recalculation of prey masses and prey numbers from scat analyses, which had been gained by using inappropriate CFs.