The role of individual predator traits in wolf feeding behavior

Cecilia Di Bernardi

Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, SLU

Abstract

Among the physical, behavioral, and environmental drivers of carnivore feeding patterns, those associated to predator individual traits are among the most difficult to study. The growing field of faecal DNA-based diet analysis combined with genotyping has the potential to increase the feasibility of large-scale diet analyses related to individual predator traits. We investigated the use of moose and roe deer with prey DNA data from 1478 wolf scat samples and examined the proportion of time spent scavenging with carcass data from 39 GPS-collared wolves in Scandinavia. Results supported predictions of more scavenging and higher use of roe deer while lower use of moose for wolves that were expectedly less skilled hunters. We observed prey use variability at the landscape level, indicating dietary responses to changes in wild ungulate abundance. Wolves showed a low extent of scavenging (6-15%), which was related to season, social affiliation, inbreeding, and co-occurring species densities. The observed patterns underline the opportunistic nature of wolves’ behavior and show support for variation at the individual level in relation to intrinsic traits. Adding to a small body of literature, our study advocates a line of research looking into environmental and behavioral traits related to the individual condition and experience.