Hunters often blame predators for reducing the game abundance and availability and this might be the cause for a widespread conflict among wolves and hunters, however, little is known on the effect of the predation pressure and resource use in wolf-wild prey-livestock systems in Europe.
This action aims to determine the predation pressure mainly on wildlife (but also on domestic animals) by integrating human practices (hunting), in strict partnership with hunters, as described in Action A4. The knowledge of interactions between the wolves, wild and domestic preys in its eco-systemic dimension is a prerequisite to have practical decision-making support tools for species and land management in their entirety, and this gets particularly effective if conducted through a participatory approach. The action includes the detailed measurement of the predation pressure exerted by wolf tracked by GPS in order to evaluate the respective roles of hunting and predation on wildlife, especially roe deer, while taking into account the pastoral dimension and the impact of the wolf on livestock.
A particular attention will be given to involve stakeholders in the project process to ensure shared stewardship. We will conduct and compare 4 local predator-prey-hunter relationships studies (1 in France, 2 in Italy, 1 in Slovenia) to evaluate and be able to generalize the impact of wolves on prey in order to make recommendations on how to consider the predation role in hunting management.
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