Dogs have no hope of survival in battle with wolves – Increase in attacks shows study

An increase in wolf attacks on dogs that hunt the same prey – wild boar or roe deer – with dogs having almost no hope of surviving this fight, is recorded in a scientific study conducted in the National Forest Park of Dadia – Lefkimri – Evfouri area, during the period 2019-2020.

This increase is accompanied by a decrease in attacks on livestock, due to the declining trend of traditional livestock in the area over the last 15 years, which results in an increase in forested areas and the transformation of wolves into wild ungulates.

“The huge reduction in livestock has turned wolves into their natural prey, while the increased use of hunting dogs per hunter, compared to previous years, has contributed to the coincidence of animals in hunting. In other words, they hunt the same thing, but when the dog is found in front of a wolf or a pack of wolves, it is 80% lost “, Dr. explains to APE-MPE. Biology, collaborator of the environmental organization “Kallisto” George Iliopoulos, who participated in the research, which was implemented in a total area of ​​2000 square kilometers and for its implementation collaborated WWF Hellas, the Management Body of the National Park Dadia- Lefklimis Kallisto “, with the help of the hunting associations of Didymoteicho, Soufli, Alexandroupolis, Metaxades and hunters of the area of ​​Evros.

Wolves kill and eat dogs

According to the research, 79.8% of wolf-hunting dog interactions were fatal, of which 42% involved total consumption of dogs and 50% partial. The average annual dog loss per affected hunter is about one dog per decade for the reference period (2005-2020). 78% of the incidents occurred during hunting and 22% during dog training. The majority of cases are associated with hare hunting (68%) and to a lesser extent with wild boar hunting (28%). The survey results also showed that losses per hunter are reduced by 10% with each decade of hunter experience, by 10% by increasing dog training days by 2 weeks and by 15.8% by hunting with others. hunters.

According to the results of the food analysis of the wolf feces analyzed, the wolves in the study area are fed on an annual basis mainly from deer (47.6%) and wild boar (25.2%), and to a lesser extent, from livestock (22 , 3%) and dogs (1.9%). Seasonally, in the wolf diet, the percentage of dogs increases by 5.1% during the winter.

“How much the wolves will eat the dogs depends on whether the hunters will be able to locate them and the use of GPS collars helps in that”, clarified Mr. Iliopoulos, adding that apart from the wolves, they cause losses in hunting dogs and wild boars which, however, their attacks, most of the time, are not deadly unlike wolves.

GPS and special vests for dogs

Researchers suggest that all cases of dog killing be investigated in the field by specialized veterinarians in the context of operating insurance and compensation systems, intensifying control of dog movements using GPS collars, using hazard maps to warn hunters and extensive use protective vests that can reduce the injuries and mortality of hounds from both wolves and wild boars.

The study on the interaction of wolves with hunting dogs in the National Forest Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli and the wider area was carried out in the period 2019-2020, 56 hunters participated and a total of 110 cases of wolf-hunting dogs interaction were recorded. in the period 2005-2020.

The field research included -among other things- the collection of wolf feces, statistical models for estimating the number of wolf herds in the research area, fecal analysis of feces to estimate the frequency of consumption of livestock, wild ungulates and wolf dogs. Also, spatio-temporal investigation of attacks on livestock animals (ELGA data) and hunting dogs in the last decade, creation of statistical models to investigate the number of cases per hunter, per herd and per municipal district, as well as the severity and outcome of an attack , comparison of losses of hounds from wild boar attacks with losses from wolf attacks.

The results of the research were recently published in a scientific article entitled “Wolf-Hunting Dog Interactions in a Biodiversity Hot Spot Area in Northern Greece: Preliminary Assessment and Implications for Conservation in the Dadia-LefkimiSoufli Forest National Park and Adjacent Areas”.

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