Wolf's home range and movements in Daurian steppe

Abstract

We have studied habitats and movements of four wolves (Canis lupus), using GPS-tracking (an average of 5484 ± 1702.4 SD locations per individual). The study has been carried out in the steppe zone of Central Asia near the Russian–Mongolian border in 2015–2016. Two of the wolves were adults, while two were sub-adults dispersed into new areas during the study period. The considered individuals used favourable habitats and feed sources during the absence of a limiting influence of snow cover and very low impact of human factors. Three of the four wolves lived mainly in Protected Areas. Two of them occupied the cross-border zone using the protection effect of the interstate border. The average size of the home range of resident individuals was 832 ± 79.05 km2 (100% MCP, minimum convex polygon method), and 256 ± 62.4 km2 (95% FK, Kernel method). The obtained values rank second after sites studied for wolves in polar and subpolar latitudes, and, perhaps, they are higher than data obtained in deserts. But our data are higher than the ones obtained in the forest zone. One of the sub-adult males used 5281 km2 during the dispersal period. Sub-adult wolves showed a higher mobility than adults. It was reflected in the speed of their movement, especially during the dispersion period.

Keywords

• canis lupus
• central asia
• daursky state nature reserve
• dispersion
• natal pack