Working to guard organic variety within the Eastern Anatolian area, the KuzeyDoğa Foundation is monitoring and conducting analysis on the actions of wolves by way of satellite tv for pc transmitters that had been positioned on the animals for the primary time in 2011, the president of the muse famous on Thursday.
Through a latest examine carried out by the KuzeyDoğa Foundation and the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks within the Sarıkamış district of japanese Kars province, the lives of seven wolves with satellite tv for pc transmitters are being monitored.
As a part of the Large Mammals Monitoring Project carried out within the district, researchers are investigating whether or not the wolves with satellite tv for pc transmitters belong to a herd, in addition to the routes they roam.
Josip Kusak, a professor from the University of Zagreb, adopted these wolves with a signal-receiving gadget on the snow-covered terrain, and KuzeyDoğa coordinator Emrah Çoban measured the path of wolves on the white sheet as a part of the venture.
According to the data obtained, the officers of the affiliation warn the breeders and shepherds within the area concerning the wolves.
Elaborating on the method of putting satellite tv for pc transmitters on wolves in Türkiye, professor Çağan Şekercioğlu, the president of the KuzeyDoğa Foundation, mentioned, “Living spaces that are shrinking due to human activities bring wolves into contact with humans more frequently. This increases human-wolf conflict. In the end, the wolves lose. Wolves approaching their habitats are often killed with firearms.”
Apart from the final venture carried out, Şekercioğlu, who can be a school member of the Utah and Koç Universities, offered info on the lifetime of wolves in Türkiye, the risks they encounter and the findings of their analysis, in an interview with the Demirören News Agency (DHA).
Stating that 81 provinces are ecologically appropriate for wolves to stay, Şekercioğlu mentioned, “Wolves still live in most of our provinces. However, their current distribution in Türkiye is approximately limited to the surface of around 490,000 square kilometers (189,190 square miles).”
“Wolves are current in 64% of our nation. They particularly desire the Central and Eastern Anatolian areas and the mountainous elements of the Black Sea. Since they like locations the place wild mammals resembling deer, roe deer and wild boar are plentiful, and the place human presence shouldn’t be intense, they’re absent in a lot of the Aegean area and our coastal areas, the low steppes of Southeastern Anatolia, and most of Thrace,” he defined.
Noting that satellite tv for pc transmitters had been implanted in 41 wolves to this point, Şekercioğlu added that they’re planning to put in transmitters in additional than 50 wolves by 2025.
According to the findings of the analysis, the most important issues wolves encounter of their pure habitats are the killing of untamed mammals resembling deer, roe deer and wild boar, that are their excellent meals, by people.
Shepherds’ social media use could possibly be one other downside professor Şekercioğlu mentioned. “Wolves follow herds of domestic animals because they are easy prey. Shepherds overusing mobile phones and social media in recent years has caused a distraction for them. Shepherds who do not take adequate precautions around their herds may face wolf attacks,” he warned.
In addition, Şekercioğlu famous that the primary dietary evaluation of the meals that wolves are principally consuming was carried out in Türkiye in 2015. It was revealed that wolves in Kars are usually not utilizing deer, roe deer and hogs as their main supply of nourishment since these wild animals are being killed in lots of elements of the nation.
He mentioned, “The wolf excrement we examined revealed that the wolves mostly ate the bones of small mammals and carrion of pets they found.”
Life expectancy drops
Noting that they imagine a big a part of the wolf inhabitants is being killed by people, Şekercioğlu additionally acknowledged that the indicators on transmitters positioned on wolves had been usually lower.
“These transmitters are very reliable. We think most of these wolves were killed by humans, and the transmitters were destroyed. Unfortunately, we estimate that most of the wolves we follow each year are killed within a year. This horrific ratio shows how wolves are in a struggle for survival,” he mentioned.
“Normally, the average life span of a wolf in nature is six to eight years. There are wolves that live up to 14 years. But since most of the wolves we follow in Kars are killed by humans, their average life expectancy is unfortunately one to two years. Wolves have a very high mortality rate and a very short life span,” he famous.
Pointing out that stray canines in Türkiye are an rising risk to wolves and different wild animals, Şekercioğlu additionally famous that whereas road canines compete with wolves for meals, they’ll additionally transmit rabies and different illnesses to them.
“They also sometimes mate with wolves, thereby spoiling the genetic purity of wolves. Similar problems are also valid for wolves in other parts of the world. However, there is not much awareness about this issue in our country,” he mentioned.
Adding that scientific analysis on the topic is scarce for the time being, Şekercioğlu additionally famous {that a} venture investigating wolf-dog crossbreeding has began inside the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department of Koç University.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
