Mountain hares Lepus timidus and tourism: stress events and reactions ...

• Main Authors: Rehnus, Maik, Wehrle, Martin, Palme, Rupert, Lukacs, Paul
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2014
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Lepus timidus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13511061; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13511061

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Summary Winter tourism in the European Alps has developed rapidly over the past few decades, leading to the expansion of ski resorts, growing numbers of visitors and a massive increase in snow sport activities such as free‐ride skiing and snowboarding, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing. Wildlife is often disturbed by these largely unpredictable activities, and animals may have limited opportunities to adapt. Mountain hares Lepus timidus are affected by this increase in alpine tourism, but their physiological and behavioural reactions to tourist activity are still unknown. We measured the levels of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites ( GCM ) in wild mountain hares living in areas that had no, medium or high levels of tourist activity during winter in 2011. Furthermore, we compared the changes in GCM excretion, behaviour and food intake of six captive mountain hares following predator challenge experiments from early to mid‐winter. Our field results showed that ...