Co-authors: Irina Rotenko and Gerard Oonk
Within the final 12 months after our research on denning in wolves in Might 2020 we’ve got already reported in regards to the peculiar scenario in denning by wolves in Naliboki Forest, the central-western Belarus. Wolf breeders stopped denning on open coaches because it was once, they usually started denning in burrows completely, when mammals (purple deer, bison, elk, lynx, brown bear), that are characterised by aggressive behaviour to pups, bought lots altogether on this forested terrain.
In Might 2021 we found 4 energetic wolf dens and traced the denning behaviour of two wolf breeding teams having two and three breeding females (each circumstances of a multi-breeding in a wolf pack). All of the 5 breeding feminine wolves stored pups in burrows solely. Altogether we discovered 33 wolf burrow-dens that had been used for denning: 7 self-made by wolves and 26 enlarged badger-setts and outliers. Apparently, that 11 out of 26 badger burrows had been wolf burrow-dens earlier than (2-7 years in the past). No any wolf couch-dens had been present in Might 2021, whereas earlier than such a scenario that’s inimical for wolf denning they denned on open couches and pits.
See the video beneath for the main points of denning in wolves in Naliboki Forest throughout Might 2021.