Wolf diet in the Notecka Forest, western Poland

Abstract

We assessed the diet composition of wolves inhabiting Notecka Forest (ca 1400 km2) in western Poland based on the analysis of scats (n = 261) collected in 2008–2021. The study revealed that wolves in this large forest tract, consisting mainly of pine monocultures, consumed primarily wild ungulates (95.2% of consumed biomass). The roe deer was the essential food item (47.8%), followed by the red deer Cervus elaphus (25.1%) and the wild boar Sus scrofa) (18.4%). Wolves supplemented their diet with medium-sized wild mammals, mainly the European hare Lepus europaeus (2.8%) and the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber (1.9%). The food niche was narrow (B = 1.1), and there was no difference in food composition between the spring–summer and autumn–winter seasons. We emphasize the significance of the smallest European wild ruminant, roe deer, in the diet of wolves inhabiting Central European Plains.