Where and How Wolves (Canis lupus) Kill Beavers (Castor canadensis)

摘要: 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 hunt beavers these systems is largely unknown, however, because observing predation challenging. We inferred how by identifying kill sites using clusters of locations from GPS-collared Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. identified 22 where 4 different packs killed beavers. classified into 8 categories based the beaver-habitat type near which each occurred. Seasonal variation existed types as 7 12 (58%) kills spring occurred at below dams shorelines, 10 (80%) fall feeding trails canals. From we deduced that typical hunting strategy has 3 components: 1) waiting areas high beaver use (e.g., trails) until comes shore or ashore, 2) vegetation, dam, other habitat features concealment, 3) immediately attacking beaver, ambushing cutting off access water. By inferring behavior have provided most complete description available