Table 1.
Main ecological characteristics of the three national parks where we collected wolf faecal samples to assess the presence of wolf endoparasites: PNALM, central Italy; PNM, France; and YNP, north-western United-States.
| National Park | Wolf presence and origin of local population a | Wolf density in winter (ind./1000 km2) b | Occurrence of other canids | Occurrence of dogs c | Free-ranging dogs (density/status) d | Wild ungulates e | Livestock | Wolf diet f |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNALM | Always present | 50 | Fox, dog | Pet dogs, working dogs, stray and feral dogs | High/tolerated, roaming as single or in groups | Chamois, roe deer, red deer, wild boar | Sheep, horses, cattle, few goats | Varied: mainly wild boar, followed by red deer, roe deer, and livestock |
| PNM | Natural recolonisation from the Apennines (Italy) since 1992 | 10.5 | Fox, dog | Pet dogs and working dogs | Very low/prohibited (controlled) | Chamois, European mouflon, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, ibex | Sheep, few goats and cattle | Varied: mainly chamois and roe deer, but also red deer, ibex, European mouflon, wild boar, and few sheep and goats |
| YNP | Reintroduction from the Canadian Rockies in 1995–1996 | 50 | Fox, coyote, dog | Pet dogs | Inexistent/prohibited (controlled) | Elk, bison, mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goat | None | Specific: ≥ 96% elk, few bison, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and moose |
PNALM: Boitani (2003); PNM: Houard and Lequette (1993); YNP: Berger and Smith (2005).
PNALM: mean estimated value (Grottoli, 2011); MNP: mean number of wolves per pack divided by the mean estimated size of packs' territory (260–350 km2; ONCFS Réseau Loup/Lynx, 2007; Duchamp et al., 2012); YNP: mean value for the northern park range (Coulson et al., 2011).
Dogs travelling with tourists are prohibited in PNALM, allowed in the buffer zone but excluded from the core area in PNM, and restricted to a range of 100 yards off roads and parking lots in YNP. Working dogs are shepherd dogs and livestock-guarding dogs.
PNALM: Boitani et al. (1995); Boitani et al. (2006); PNM: G. Millischer pers. comm.; YNP: Bangs et al. (2005).
Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), European mouflon (Ovis orientalis), alpine ibex (Capra ibex), elk (Cervus canadensis), bison (Bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), moose (Alces alces), pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), and mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus).
Wolf faecal samples collected in PNALM and PNM were submitted to dietary analyses (PNALM: P. Ciucci, unpublished data; PNM: ONCFS Réseau Loup/Lynx, 2004; 2006). In YNP, main prey species were assessed through close observation of local wolf packs (Smith et al., 2008, 2009, 2010).