Spatial interactions between grey wolves and Eurasian lynx in Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland

• Published in: Ecological Research
• Main Authors: Schmidt, Krzysztof, Jędrzejewski, Włodzimierz, Okarma, Henryk, Kowalczyk, Rafał
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2008
• Subjects: Canis lupus; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11284-008-0496-y; http://www.springerlink.com/index/pdf/10.1007/s11284-008-0496-y

Abstract Various species of large predators are reported to influence each other through interference or exploitation competition that may affect demography and survival of the subordinate species. We analyzed spatial relationships between grey wolf ( Canis lupus ) and Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) in Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF, eastern Poland) to determine how they partitioned the space. The wolves ( n = 8) and lynx ( n = 14) were radio‐tracked in 1991–1999. Three wolves and seven lynx were radio‐tracked simultaneously in 1994–1996. Territories of wolf packs and home ranges of lynx overlapped considerably (76% of wolf territories and 50% of lynx home ranges, on average). In three cases, their core areas were also overlapping. Wolf‐lynx dyads with overlapping home ranges were simultaneously located at distances from 0 to 28 km from each other. We found neither avoidance nor attraction between wolves and lynx occupying the same areas. We concluded that in BPF, the two large predators coexist due to specialization on different preferred prey and heterogeneous habitat.