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| Wikenros, C.; Liberg, O.; Sand, H.; Andr‚n, H. | |
| Competition between recolonizing wolves and resident lynx in Sweden | |
| 2010 Canadian Journal of Zoology (88): 271-279 | |
We studied the effect of a recolonizing wolf (_Canis lupus_ L., 1758) population on a resident lynx (_Lynx lynx_ (L., 1758)) population in south-central Sweden. Wolf and lynx share the same prey species, western roe deer (_Capreolus capreolus_ (L., 1758)), and the size difference between the two species suggests a strong potential for interference competition. The spatial distributions of lynx family groups (n = 378) over four winters were not significantly affected by the increase in size and range of the wolf population. Survival of lynx kittens until 9 months of age did not differ significantly inside (54%; n = 37) and outside (62%; n = 42) wolf territories, and female lynx (n = 3) selected natal den sites (n = 19) in the same local area before and after wolf establishment. Furthermore, lynx home-range size (n = 42) did not increase as a result of presence of wolves and space use by female lynx (n = 3) was not affected by wolf establishment. We found no evidence of cleptoparasitism by wolves on roe deer killed by lynx. We conclude that the intensity of interference and exploitation competition between wolves and lynx was low. |
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