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Abstract |
Monitoring wolves (Canis lupus) is a difficult and often expensive task due to high mobility,pack dynamic, shyness and nocturnal activity of this species. Wolves communicate acoustically trough howling, within pack and with packs of the neighbourhood. A wolf howl is a low frequency vocalization that can be transmitted over long distances and thus be used
for monitoring tasks. Animated howling survey is a current method to monitor wolves indifferent areas all over the world. Animated howling, however, may be invasive to residential wolf packs and could create possible negative reactions from local human population. Here we show that it is possible to detect wolves by recording spontaneous howling events. We measured the sound pressure level of wolf howls on captive individuals and we further found that simulated howling may be recorded and clearly identified up to a distance of 3 km. We finally conducted non-invasive acoustic detection of wolves in a free ranging population. The use of passive sound recorders may provide a powerful non-invasive tool for future wolf monitoring and thus help to established sustainable management plans for this species. |
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