Biró Zsolt, Katona Krisztián, Szabó László, Sütő Dávid, Heltai Miklós
Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly utca 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary.
WWF Hungary, Álmos Vezér útja 69/A, H-1141 Budapest, Hungary.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Dec 10;14(24):3557. doi: 10.3390/ani14243557.
The populations and distribution areas of large carnivores have declined all over the world due to extirpation and habitat alteration and degradation. However, the grey wolf () has recovered in Europe in recent decades and has been reappearing in Hungary since the 1990s. Since the dominant prey of this carnivore is the red deer () and the wild boar () in Central and Eastern Europe, we aimed to study the impact of wolves on local deer populations. Based on hunters' opinions, we expected an increasing wolf presence and intense effects of wolves on the stress level and body condition of deer. First, we examined the occupied area by wolf in the North Hungarian Mountains. The distribution map was based on a questionnaire among the game managers. To measure the influence of the reappearing predator population on the red deer individuals, we estimated the body condition (kidney fat and bone marrow index) and stress hormone level of faecal samples. We compared them between the areas colonised by wolves and control sites in the mountains. We revealed an increased distribution area of wolves in the mountains since 2014. The stress hormone level was lower in the wolf-free sites in the case of faeces gathered from the ground, but there was similar amount of cortisol in the samples collected from the hunted animals. The body condition indices were not different between the two area types (average kidney fat index > 100% and almost 100% for the bone marrow fat content). Our results do not support a very intense recent impact of the wolf population on the body condition and stress level of red deer in Hungary.
由于灭绝以及栖息地的改变和退化，大型食肉动物的种群数量和分布区域在全球范围内都有所下降。然而，近几十年来，灰狼（ ）在欧洲数量有所恢复，自20世纪90年代以来一直在匈牙利重新出现。由于这种食肉动物在中东欧的主要猎物是马鹿（ ）和野猪（ ），我们旨在研究狼对当地鹿群数量的影响。基于猎人的观点，我们预计狼的出现会增加，并对鹿的应激水平和身体状况产生强烈影响。首先，我们研究了匈牙利北部山区狼的活动区域。分布图基于对狩猎管理人员的问卷调查。为了衡量重新出现的捕食者种群对马鹿个体的影响，我们估计了粪便样本的身体状况（肾脂肪和骨髓指数）和应激激素水平。我们将狼出没地区和山区对照地点的情况进行了比较。我们发现自2014年以来，山区狼的分布区域有所增加。对于从地面收集的粪便，无狼地区的应激激素水平较低，但从被猎杀动物身上采集的样本中皮质醇含量相似。两种区域类型的身体状况指数没有差异（平均肾脂肪指数>100%，骨髓脂肪含量几乎为100%）。我们的研究结果不支持近期狼种群对匈牙利马鹿的身体状况和应激水平产生非常强烈的影响。
