Wolf Canis lupus predation on moose Alces alces and roe deer Capreolus capreolus in south-central Scandinavia

During 1988-1992, 684 scats were collected throughout the year in the territory of the only reproducing family group (mean five individuals) of wolves Canis lupus in Scandinavia. Moose Alces alces, roe deer Capreolus capreolus, and badger Meles meles constituted the three most important prey species, and hair from them was found in 52%, 50%, and 19% of scats, respectively. When compensating for different area/volume ratios in prey species of different size, these three species were estimated to constitute 97% of the biomass ingested. The proportions of moose, roe deer, and badger were 66%, 27%, and 8% by mass, and 25%, 52%, and 23% by number, respectively. Young-of-the-year dominated two samples of dead moose (51% of 65 killed by wolves; 43% of 155 killed by hunters), but no significant differences between the samples were found in any age class. Wolves killed significantly more female moose (76%) than hunters (53%), and among wolf-predated moose, no male was older than two years. Mean winter density of moose and roe deer in the wolf territory (523 km(2)), estimated by fecal pellet group counts, was 1.5 moose and 0.4 roe deer/km(2). Moose density decreased slightly at the end of the study, but it was estimated that wolves killed only about 5% of the moose population each year and that this could be compensated for by a decrease of about 10-20% in the hunter kill. In spite of a high predation pressure from wolves, in addition to predation from an increasing lynx Lynx lynx population, the density of roe deer increased threefold. It is concluded that the future predation pressure on moose may be more pronounced if the density of wolves increases, and roe deer may be more affected by predation when the present favourable ecological conditions cease.