Testing Global Positioning System Telemetry to Study Wolf Predation on Deer Fawns

• Published in: The Journal of Wildlife Management
• Main Authors: DEMMA, DOMINIC J., BARBER‐MEYER, SHANNON M., MECH, L. DAVID
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2007
• Subjects: Nature and Landscape Conservation; Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/2006-382; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2193%2F2006-382

ABSTRACT 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.