Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Historical dynamics of a declining wolf population: persecution vs. prey reduction

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Wildlife Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using records from archives detailing bounties for wolves killed in northern Spain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we investigated demographic and spatial distribution parameters of the population to determine whether direct persecution or prey availability was responsible for the observed population decline. Captures of adult, subadult, and young individuals, including those of litters, showed a downward trend. Progressive decreases in age ratio and litter size, and the increase in the proportion of males, were compatible with a population under food stress, driven by the extinction of wild ungulates, the sharp reduction in livestock numbers, and the lack of alternative prey. The immigration and dispersal process does not seem to have functioned under such conditions. In the study area, where strychnine was not used until the end of the nineteenth century, the broadly accepted idea of human persecution having an exclusive or primary role in wolf decline does not necessarily apply.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberdi JC (2003) Políticas agroambientales y ganadería en los montes de utilidad pública del País Vasco. Pap Geogr 38:5–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcántara M, Cantos FJ (1992) Tendencias históricas de la comunidad de carnívoros del Monte de El Pardo (Madrid, España central). Misc Zool 16:171–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Álvares F, Alonso P, Sierra P, Petrucci-Fonseca F (2000) Os fojos dos lobos na Península Ibérica. Sua inventariaçao, caracterizaçao e conservaçao. Galemys 12:57–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersen R, Linell JD, Solberg EJ (2006) The future role of large carnivores on terrestrial trophic interactions: the northern temperate view. In: Danell K, Bergström R, Duncan P, Pastor J (eds) Large herbivore ecology, ecosystem dynamics and conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 413–448

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aragón Á (2003) Gestión, uso y aprovechamiento de comunales y parzonerías en la Edad Moderna: el ejemplo de Entzia y de Urbia. In: Pastor E (ed) La Llanada oriental a través de la historia. Diputación Foral de Álava, Vitoria, pp 81–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballard WB, Ayres LA, Krausman PR, Reed DJ, Fancy SG (1997) Ecology of wolves in relation to a migratory caribou herd in northwest Alaska. Wildl Monogr 135:5–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaufort E (1987) Le loup en France. Elements d’ecologie historique. SFEPM, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger J (2007) Carnivore repatriation and holarctic prey: narrowing the deficit in ecological effectiveness. Conserv Biol 21:1105–1116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco JC (2001) El hábitat del lobo: la importancia de los aspectos ecológicos y socioeconómicos. In: Camprodon J, Plana E (eds) Conservación de la biodiversidad y gestión forestal. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, pp 415–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanco JC, Cortés Y (2002) Ecología, censos, percepción y evolución del lobo en España: análisis de un conflicto. Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos, Málaga

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanco JC, Reig S, Cuesta L (1992) Distribution, status and conservation problems of the wolf Canis lupus in Spain. Biol Conserv 60:73–80. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(92)91157-N

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boitani L (2003) Wolf conservation and recovery. In: Mech LD, Boitani L (eds) Wolves. Behaviour, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 317–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Boitani L, Asa C, Moehrenschlager A (2004) Tools for canid conservation. In: Macdonald DW, Sillero-Zubiri C (eds) Biology and conservation of wild canids. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 143–159

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Butzeck S, Stubbe M, Piechocki R (1988) Beiträge zur Geschichte der Säugetier-fauna der DDR. Der Braunbär Ursus arctos Linné 1758. Hercynia 25:27–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrete M, Grande JM, Tella JL, Sánchez JA, Donázar JA, Díaz R, Romo A (2007) Habitat, human pressure, and social behavior: partialling out factors affecting large-scale territory extinction in an endangered culture. Biol Conserv 136:143–154. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.11.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caussimont G (1981) Le loup en Navarre (XVIII-XIX s.) et les dernières campagnes de destruction dans les Pyrénées occidentales. Acta Biol Montana 1:81–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapron G, Legendre S, Ferrière R, Clobert J, Haight RG (2003) Conservation and control strategies for the wolf (Canis lupus) in Western Europe based on demographic models. C R Biol 326:575–587. doi:10.1016/S1631-0691(03)00148-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chatfield C (2003) The analysis of time series: an introduction. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Chavez AS, Gese EM (2005) Food habits of wolves in relation to livestock depredation in Northwestern Minnesota. Am Midl Nat 154:253–263. doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2005)154[0253:FHOWIR]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuesta L, Bárcena F, Palacios F, Reig S (1991) The trophic ecology of the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus Cabrera, 1907). A new analysis of stomach’s data. Mammalia 55:239–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dirección General de Agricultura Industria y Comercio (1861) Apuntes relativos a la aparición y extinción de animales dañinos en las provincias del Reino. Ministerio de Fomento, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Echegaray J, Illana A, Hernando A, Martínez de Lecea F, Bayona J, Covela I, De la Torre Á, Paniagua D, Vilá C (2007) Uso de técnicas genéticas no invasivas para estimar el tamaño y la distribución del lobo (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) en el País Vasco (N España). Galemys 19(2):3–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgmork K (1996) Historic review of brown bears and wolves in central-south Norway: 1733–1845. Fauna Oslo 49:134–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Espuno N (2004) Impact du loup (Canis lupus) sur les ongulés sauvages et domestiques dans le Massif du Mercantour. Université Montpellier II, Montpellier

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández A (2004) Sobre los hábitos alimenticios del lobo (Canis lupus) en la Cordillera Cantábrica. Locustella 2:24–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández JM, Ruiz de Azua N (2003) Notas históricas sobre algunas especies faunísticas. In: Fernández JM (ed) Estudio faunístico del Parque Natural del Gorbeia. Diputación Foral de Álava, Vitoria, pp 35–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller TK (1989) Population dynamics of wolves in north-central Minnesota. Wildl Monogr 105:1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller TK, Mech LD, Cochrane JF (2003) Wolf population dynamics. In: Mech LD, Boitani L (eds) Wolves. Behaviour, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 161–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller TK, Sievert PR (2001) Demography and the consequences of changes in prey availability. In: Gittleman JL, Funk SM, Macdonald DW, Wayne RK (eds) Carnivore conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 61–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Garayo JM (1992) Los montes del País Vasco (1833–1935). Agric Soc 65:121–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Gese EM, Mech LD (1991) Dispersal of wolves (Canis lupus) in Northeastern Minnesota, 1969–1989. Can J Zool 69:2946–2955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grande del Brío R (1984) El lobo ibérico. Biología y mitología. Hermann Blume, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Grau JM, Puig R, Ruiz-Olmo J (1990) Persecución del lobo (Canis lupus L., 1758) en Girona (NE ibérico) durante los siglos XVIII y XIX: ejemplo de utilización de datos de archivo. Misc Zool 14:217–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Green RE (2002) Diagnosing causes of population declines and selecting remedial actions. In: Norris K, Pain KJ (eds) Conserving bird biodiversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 139–156

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez V (2005) El lobo ibérico en Andalucía. Junta de Andalucía, Sevilla

    Google Scholar 

  • Haight RG, Mladenoff DJ, Wydeven AP (1998) Modeling disjunct gray wolf populations in semi-wild landscapes. Conserv Biol 12:879–888. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97103.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington FJ, Mech LD, Fritts SH (1983) Pack size and wolf pup survival: their relationship under varying ecological conditions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 13:19–26. doi:10.1007/BF00295072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber D, Kusak J, Frkovic A, Guzvica G, Gomercic T (2002) Causes of wolf mortality in Croatia in the period 1986–2001. Vet Arh 72:131–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Jedrzejewska B, Jedrzejewski W, Bunevich AN, Milkowski L, Okarma H (1996) Population dynamics of wolves Canis lupus in Bialowieza primeval forest (Poland and Belarus) in relation to hunting by humans, 1847–1993. Mamm Rev 26:103–126. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1996.tb00149.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson WE (2004) Evaluating and predicting the impact of exploitation and trade on canid populations. In: Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffman M, Macdonald DW (eds) Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, pp 267–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Joly D, Messier F (2000) A numerical response of wolves to buffalo abundance in Wood Buffalo National Park. Can J Zool 78:1101–1104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junta General de Estadística (1865) Anuario estadístico de España 1862–1865. Imprenta Nacional, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Junta General de Estadística (1915) Anuario estadístico de España 1915. Imprenta Nacional, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Kojola I, Danilov PI (2001) Wolf population dynamics in Eastern Fennoscandia: does human exploitation mask the effects of prey density? Canid Biology and Conservation International Conference. IUCN Canid Specialist Group, Oxford, p 38

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberg O, Andrén H, Pedersen HC, Sand H, Sejberg D, Wabakken P, Akesson M, Benshc S (2005) Severe inbreeding depression in a wild wolf (Canis lupus) population. Biol Lett 1:17–20. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0266

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linnell JD, Nilsen EB, Lande US, Herfindal I, Odden J, Skogen K, Andersen R, Breitenmoser U (2005) Zoning as a means of mitigating conflicts with large carnivore. Principles and reality. In: Woodroffe R, Thirgood S, Rabinowitz A (eds) People & wildlife: conflict or coexistence?. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 162–175

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Linnell JD, Salvatori V, Boitani L (2007) Guidelines for population level management plans for large carnivores. Istituto di Ecologia Applicata, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Madoz P (1845–1850) Diccionario geográfico-estadístico-histórico de España y sus posesiones de ultramar. Madrid

  • Markina F (2000) Estudio de las poblaciones de corzo (Capreolus capreolus L.) y jabalí (Sus scrofa L.) y análisis de su explotación cinegética en el Territorio Histórico de Álava. Universidad de León, León

    Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD (1995) The challenge and opportunity of recovering wolf populations. Conserv Biol 9:270–278. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.9020270.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD (1981) The wolf. The ecology and behavior of an endangered species. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD, Adams LG, Meier TJ, Burch JW, Dale BW (1998) The wolves of Denali. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD, Boitani L (2004) Grey wolf. In: Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffman M, Macdonald DW (eds) Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, pp 124–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD, Peterson RO (2003) Wolf–prey relations. In: Mech LD, Boitani L (eds) Wolves. Behaviour, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 131–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Meier TJ, Burch JW, Mech LD, Adams LG (1995) Pack structure and genetic relatedness among wolf packs in a naturally regulated population. In: Carbyn LN, Fritts SH, Seip DR (eds) Ecology and conservation of wolves in a changing world. Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Edmonton, pp 293–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Meriggi A, Lovari S (1996) A review of wolf predation in southern Europe: does the wolf prefer wild prey to livestock? J Appl Ecol 33:1561–1571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messier F (1985) Solitary living and extraterritorial movements of wolves in relation to social status and prey abundance. Can J Zool 63:239–245. doi:10.1139/z85-037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messier F (1995) On the functional and numerical responses of wolves to changing prey densities. In: Carbyn LN, Fritts SH, Seip DR (eds) Ecology and conservation of wolves in a changing world. Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Edmonton, pp 187–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills LS (2007) Conservation of wildlife populations. Demography, genetics, and management. Blackwell, Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Múgica S (1895) La caza del lobo en nuestras montañas. Euskal-Erria Rev Bascongada 32:233–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson T (2003) Integrating effects of hunting policy, catastrophic events, and inbreeding depression, in PVA simulation: the Scandinavian wolf population as an example. Biol Conserv 115:227–239. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00120-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nores C, González F, García P (1995) Wild boar distribution trends in the last two centuries: an example in Northern Spain. Ibex J Mt Ecol 3:137–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowak S, Myslajek SW, Jedrzejewska B (2005) Patterns of wolf Canis lupus predation on wild and domestic ungulates in the western Carpathian Mountains (S Poland). Acta Theriol (Warsz) 50:263–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Okarma H (1995) The trophic ecology of wolves and their predatory role in ungulate communities of forest ecosystems in Europe. Acta Theriol (Warsz) 40:335–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen T, Oksanen L, Schneider M, Aunapuu M (2001) Regulation, cycles and stability in northern carnivore–herbivore systems: back to first principles. Oikos 94:101–117. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.11315.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orsini P (1996) Quelques éléments sur la disparition du loup (Canis lupus) en Provence au cours du XIXéme siecle. Faune Provence 17:23–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips MK, Bangs EE, Mech LD, Kelly BT, Fazio BB (2004) Grey wolves-Yellowstone. Extermination and recovery of red wolf and grey wolf in the contiguous United States. In: Macdonald DW, Sillero-Zubiri C (eds) Biology and conservation of wild canids. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 143–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Potvin F (1987) Wolf movements and population dynamics in Papineau Labelle Reserve, Quebec. Can J Zool 66:1266–1273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rico M, Torrente JP (2000) Caza y rarificación del lobo en España: investigación histórica y conclusiones biológicas. Galemys 12:163–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley SJ, Nesslage GM, Maurer BA (2004) Dynamics of early wolf and cougar eradication efforts in Montana: implications for conservation. Biol Conserv 119:575–579. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2004.01.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sáenz de Buruaga M, Campos MÁ, Arberas E, Onrubia A (2000) Últimos datos sobre el lobo (Canis lupus) en el País Vasco y Navarra. Galemys 12:149–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Salvador A, Abad PL (1987) Food habits of a wolf population (Canis lupus) in León province, Spain. Mammalia 51:45–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidorovich V, Tikhomirova L, Jedrzejewska B (2003) Wolf Canis lupus numbers, diet and damage to livestock in relation to hunting and ungulate abundance in northeastern Belarus during 1990–2000. Wildl Biol 9:103–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Sillero-Zubiri C, Schwitzer D (2004) Management of wild canids in human-dominated landscapes. In: Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffman M, Macdonald DW (eds) Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, pp 257–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson PC, Rose K, Kok NE (1992) The behavioral ecology of dingoes in Northwestern Australia. IV. Social and spatial organization and movements. Wildl Res 19:543–563. doi:10.1071/WR9920543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torrente JP (1999) Osos y otras fieras en el pasado de Asturias. Fundación Oso de Asturias, Oviedo

    Google Scholar 

  • Valverde JA, Teruelo S (2001) Los lobos de Morla. Al Andalus, Sevilla

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilá C, Uríos V, Castroviejo J (1990) Ecología del lobo en la Cabrera (León) y la Carballeda (Zamora). In: Blanco JC, Cuesta L, Reig S (eds) El lobo (Canis lupus) en España. Situación, problemática y apuntes sobre su ecología. Ministerio de Agricultura Pesca y Alimentación, Madrid, pp 95–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Vos J (2000) Food habits and livestock depredation of two Iberian wolf packs (Canis lupus signatus) in the north of Portugal. J Zool (Lond) 251:457–462. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00801.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vucetich JA, Peterson RO, Waite TA (1997) Effects of social structure and prey dynamics on extinction risk in gray wolves. Conserv Biol 11:957–965. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.95366.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wabakken P, Sand H, Liberg O, Bjärvall A (2001) The recovery, distribution and population dynamics of wolves on the Scandinavian peninsula, 1978–1998. Can J Zool 79:710–725. doi:10.1139/cjz-79-4-710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodroffe R (2001) Strategies for carnivore conservation: lessons from contemporary extinctions. In: Gittleman JL, Funk SM, Macdonald DW, Wayne RK (eds) Carnivore conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 61–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Yalden DW (1999) The history of British mammals. T & AD Poyser, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Francisco J. Purroy, Carles Vilà, Bogumila Jedrzejewska, Jorge Echegaray, Arturo Menor, Eugenio Murguía, Miguel Ángel Campos, Mario Sáenz de Buruaga, Teresa Andrés, Brian Webster, Nick Gardner, and the officials at Archivo del Territorio Histórico de Álava, Archivo Histórico Foral de Vizcaya, and Archivo General de Guipúzcoa for their kind assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Alavés de la Naturaleza, Calle de Pedro de Asúa, 2, 01008, Vitoria, Álava, Spain

    José María Fernández & Nerea Ruiz de Azua

Authors
  1. José María Fernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nerea Ruiz de Azua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José María Fernández.

Additional information

Communicated by: H. Kierdorf

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fernández, J.M., Ruiz de Azua, N. Historical dynamics of a declining wolf population: persecution vs. prey reduction. Eur J Wildl Res 56, 169–179 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0300-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0300-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation