Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses

The main prey for lynx in northern Sweden is semi-domestic reindeer. Lynx often utilise their large prey for several days and therefore a special behaviour can be observed around a kill site. The aim of this study was to investigate behavioural characteristics of lynx around killed reindeer and exam...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Falk, Håkan
Format: H1
Language:Inglés
Published: SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2009
Subjects:
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author Falk, Håkan
author_browse Falk, Håkan
author_facet Falk, Håkan
author_sort Falk, Håkan
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description The main prey for lynx in northern Sweden is semi-domestic reindeer. Lynx often utilise their large prey for several days and therefore a special behaviour can be observed around a kill site. The aim of this study was to investigate behavioural characteristics of lynx around killed reindeer and examine factors that might affect the behaviour. Data was collected in 2008 during two 6-weeks periods (winter and summer) from 4 lynx equipped with GPS-collars. In total 77 kill sites were analysed. Lynx spent on average 40 hours (SD=40) around a kill site but only about 10 hours (SD=11) within 50 meters of the carcass. Lynx revisited the carcasses on average 4 times (SD=3.5) and rested on average 898 meters (SD=1311) away from the carcass. I found that higher complexity in the environment such as steep slope and dense vegetation increased time spent around kill sites and shortened distance to resting sites, presumably because this is where lynx can feel safe. My results can be helpful in future predation studies, where it can aid interpretation of GPS-data and distinguish kill sites of reindeer from other clustered positions.
format H1
id RepoSLU544
institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
publishDate 2009
publishDateSort 2009
publisher SLU/Dept. of Ecology
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spelling RepoSLU5442012-04-20T14:10:01Z Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses Lodjurs beteende vid renkadaver Falk, Håkan Reindeer Lynx The main prey for lynx in northern Sweden is semi-domestic reindeer. Lynx often utilise their large prey for several days and therefore a special behaviour can be observed around a kill site. The aim of this study was to investigate behavioural characteristics of lynx around killed reindeer and examine factors that might affect the behaviour. Data was collected in 2008 during two 6-weeks periods (winter and summer) from 4 lynx equipped with GPS-collars. In total 77 kill sites were analysed. Lynx spent on average 40 hours (SD=40) around a kill site but only about 10 hours (SD=11) within 50 meters of the carcass. Lynx revisited the carcasses on average 4 times (SD=3.5) and rested on average 898 meters (SD=1311) away from the carcass. I found that higher complexity in the environment such as steep slope and dense vegetation increased time spent around kill sites and shortened distance to resting sites, presumably because this is where lynx can feel safe. My results can be helpful in future predation studies, where it can aid interpretation of GPS-data and distinguish kill sites of reindeer from other clustered positions. SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2009 H1 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/544/
spellingShingle Reindeer
Lynx
Falk, Håkan
Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title_full Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title_fullStr Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title_full_unstemmed Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title_short Lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
title_sort lynx behaviour around reindeer carcasses
topic Reindeer
Lynx