Spatial organization of the Pampas fox in a grassland relict of central Argentina: a flexible system

摘要: The Pampas fox (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) is a generalist South American canid that adapts well to the human-dominated landscape of Argentine pampas, which largely converted agriculture and pastures. However, little known about its ranging behaviour spatial organization in relict native grasslands. We captured tracked 13 radio-tagged adult foxes between December 1998 June 2005 Ernesto Tornquist Provincial Park, protected area with dense population wild horses, an important food item for foxes. home range 10 males averaged 1.40 ± 0.96 km2 (mean sd; 95% minimum convex polygon, MCP) was not significantly larger than three females, 1.20 1.07 km2 (95% MCP). Evidence individual's site fidelity over study period indicative locally abundant resources all year round. It likely availability horse carcasses main driver this population. Our density estimate 1.1–1.5 per km2 falls within know densities foxes, close upper limit, as also expected from aggregated resource such carrion. Reduced hunting pressures, however, may contribute explain relatively high area.