Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis)
Beavers (Castor canadensis) can be a significant prey item for wolves (Canis lupus) in boreal ecosystems due to their abundance and vulnerability on land. How wolves hunt beavers in these systems is largely unknown, however, because observing predation is challenging. We inferred how wolves hunt bea...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:5167233 2023-05-15T15:49:43+02:00 Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) Gable, Thomas D. Windels, Steve K. Bruggink, John G. Homkes, Austin T. 2016-12-19 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5167233/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27992441 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5167233/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27992441 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication. CC0 PDM Research Article Text 2016 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 2017-01-08T01:23:37Z Beavers (Castor canadensis) can be a significant prey item for wolves (Canis lupus) in boreal ecosystems due to their abundance and vulnerability on land. How wolves hunt beavers in these systems is largely unknown, however, because observing predation is challenging. We inferred how wolves hunt beavers by identifying kill sites using clusters of locations from GPS-collared wolves in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. We identified 22 sites where wolves from 4 different packs killed beavers. We classified these kill sites into 8 categories based on the beaver-habitat type near which each kill occurred. Seasonal variation existed in types of kill sites as 7 of 12 (58%) kills in the spring occurred at sites below dams and on shorelines, and 8 of 10 (80%) kills in the fall occurred near feeding trails and canals. From these kill sites we deduced that the typical hunting strategy has 3 components: 1) waiting near areas of high beaver use (e.g., feeding trails) until a beaver comes near shore or ashore, 2) using vegetation, the dam, or other habitat features for concealment, and 3) immediately attacking the beaver, or ambushing the beaver by cutting off access to water. By identifying kill sites and inferring hunting behavior we have provided the most complete description available of how and where wolves hunt and kill beavers. Text Canis lupus PubMed Central (PMC) PLOS ONE 11 12 e0165537 |
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Research Article Gable, Thomas D. Windels, Steve K. Bruggink, John G. Homkes, Austin T. Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
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Research Article |
description |
Beavers (Castor canadensis) can be a significant prey item for wolves (Canis lupus) in boreal ecosystems due to their abundance and vulnerability on land. How wolves hunt beavers in these systems is largely unknown, however, because observing predation is challenging. We inferred how wolves hunt beavers by identifying kill sites using clusters of locations from GPS-collared wolves in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. We identified 22 sites where wolves from 4 different packs killed beavers. We classified these kill sites into 8 categories based on the beaver-habitat type near which each kill occurred. Seasonal variation existed in types of kill sites as 7 of 12 (58%) kills in the spring occurred at sites below dams and on shorelines, and 8 of 10 (80%) kills in the fall occurred near feeding trails and canals. From these kill sites we deduced that the typical hunting strategy has 3 components: 1) waiting near areas of high beaver use (e.g., feeding trails) until a beaver comes near shore or ashore, 2) using vegetation, the dam, or other habitat features for concealment, and 3) immediately attacking the beaver, or ambushing the beaver by cutting off access to water. By identifying kill sites and inferring hunting behavior we have provided the most complete description available of how and where wolves hunt and kill beavers. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gable, Thomas D. Windels, Steve K. Bruggink, John G. Homkes, Austin T. |
author_facet |
Gable, Thomas D. Windels, Steve K. Bruggink, John G. Homkes, Austin T. |
author_sort |
Gable, Thomas D. |
title |
Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
title_short |
Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
title_full |
Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
title_fullStr |
Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis) |
title_sort |
where and how wolves (canis lupus) kill beavers (castor canadensis) |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5167233/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27992441 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5167233/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27992441 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication. |
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CC0 PDM |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165537 |
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PLOS ONE |
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11 |
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