RESEARCH PAPER
Hares, humans, and lynx activity rhythms: who avoids whom?
 
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1
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Iran
 
2
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
 
3
Department of Veterinary Biology, University of Zagreb, Croatia
 
4
Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
 
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Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Uintah Basin, Utah, USA
 
6
School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA
 
7
KuzeyDoğa Society, Kars, Turkey
 
 
Online publication date: 2021-11-17
 
 
Publication date: 2021-11-17
 
 
Corresponding author
Katarzyna Bojarska   

Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
 
 
Hystrix It. J. Mamm. 2021;32(2):147-152
 
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ABSTRACT
Predator-prey interactions and human presence are among the key factors shaping large mammal activity patterns. In human-dominated landscapes, large carnivores must balance their activity rhythms between optimizing feeding opportunities and avoiding encounters with humans. In north-eastern Turkey, the Caucasian lynx (Lynx lynx dinniki), a threatened subspecies of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), occupies habitats that are heavily fragmented and dominated by human presence in the warm part of the year. Using camera traps and GPS-collar activity sensors, we investigated lynx circadian activity patterns across lunar phases and seasons. We compared the activity pattern of the lynx to the activity pattern of its primary prey, the European hare (Lepus europaeus), and humans. We found that during the warm season (May-October), lynx displayed a bimodal crepuscular activity pattern typical for this species and consistent with hare activity. During the cold season (November-April), both lynx and hares shifted to predominantly diurnal activity. During the full moon, hares reduced their activity due to the anti-predator behaviour, followed by a corresponding adjustment in lynx activity patterns. We conclude that lynx activity in our study area is an outcome of weather conditions, human presence and foraging behaviour. Our results also corroborate the suitability of camera trapping data in documenting multiple species’ temporal activity patterns.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to the Foundation Segré for providing the majority of the funding for this project. This research was also supported by other generous donors, including Arkadaşlar, Bilge Bahar, Faruk Eczacıbaşı, Seha İşmen, Ömer Külahçıoğlu, Burak Över, Batubay Özkan, Alan Peterson, Emin Özgür, Suna Reyent, Faruk Yalçın Zoo, National Geographic Society, Sigrid Rausing Trust, STGM, TANAP, and the Whitley Fund. We thank Turkey’s Department of Nature Conservation and National Parks and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for granting a permit for this research (No. 72784983-488.04-114100). We also thank the staff and volunteers of the KuzeyDoga for their dedicated support.
FUNDING
Foundation Segré provided the majority of the funding for this project. This research was also supported by other generous donors, including Arkadaşlar, Bilge Bahar, Faruk Eczacıbaşı, Seha İşmen, Ömer Külahçıoğlu, Burak Över, Batubay Özkan, Alan Peterson, Emin Özgür, Suna Reyent, Faruk Yalçın Zoo, National Geographic Society, Sigrid Rausing Trust, STGM, TANAP, and the Whitley Fund.
eISSN:1825-5272
ISSN:0394-1914
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