The hunting behavior of the wolf is not easy to explain. Animal holders dip that more plots are protected with fences, or that tourists cause more unrest during this period. Others, for example, point to a decreasing confidence in the handling of damage caused by BIJ12, which would less report attacks. For many stakeholders, it continues to guess for causes.
Research by the Mammal Association in collaboration with Stichting Leo and the Universities of Leiden and Antwerp confirms the image that emerges from the figures of BIJ12. In Drenthe there is a peak of sheep in the wolvendet during autumn and winter. In the spring and summer, the share of sheep decreases. The researchers conclude this after they have examined the stool of the wolf.
The Belgian scientist Timo van der Veken was one of the researchers who analyzed the poo of the Wolves in Drenthe on behalf of the University of Leiden. He states that the wolf flexibly responds to the circumstances in nature. This means that the wolf hunts for its food on the basis of the (vulnerable) prey species present and the energetic yield of these animals. “The wolf makes a cost-benefit analysis and is also influenced by the experience gained,” he says.
To understand the eating behavior of the wolf in the summer, it is important to look at what happened in previous months, says Van der Veken. In particular, we have to look at deer for Drenthe, because this animal in our province is the most consumed by the wolf, according to the analysis of turds.
Van der Veken: “Young very vulnerable roe deer are abundant from average mid -May. As the summer progresses, however, these young deer become increasingly independent and attentive. The vulnerability of the prey species is decreasing.”
The scientist wants to emphasize that a young adult to adult deer remains the most consumed prey species during the rest of the year. As he gets older and wiser, he becomes a little harder to hunt.
In the wild living cattle (the types of Galloway and Sayaguesa that graze freely in nature reserves) are a second important prey species. And here too it is the youngsters who are an easy victim for the wolf. “The birth peak will take place from March. Studies show that the first two weeks of life are critical, but also calves can be predicted up to a few months old,” said the Belgian scientist.
In short, as the summer ends, the most consumed prey types become less vulnerable. They are simply more dangerous, more mobile and/or more wary. And therefore less profitable for the wolf. That means that he will broaden his gaze again at that moment. In the cost-benefit analysis of the wolf, sheep are interesting, among other things, because their presence is predictable. For example, they regularly graze in fixed meadows.
And then there is a final explanation why hunger for sheep increases in the fall. Wolvenwelpen – in the world in the birth season that runs from April to June – is also constantly developing, says Van der Veken. “Their energetic need is increasing. However, these young wolves are not yet self -sufficient, which means that the parents are strictly burdened. Learning to hunt is a process.”
Sheep farmers now have relatively little trouble with the wolf. But nature is not standing still. If circumstances change, Wolf looks for new opportunities. “A real opportunist,” concludes Van der Veken.