engleski

Activity patterns of introduced nonative Barbary sheeP (Ammotragus lervia) in Southern Dinarides, Croatia

During year 2002 five Barbary sheep (three females and two males) of unknown origin have been illegally released in the southern Dinaric region (Mosor Mountain ; 1.339 m a.s.l.) of Croatia. To date, however, little is known about the activity patterns of free range nonnative Barbary sheep. Therefore, on 11 of March 2015 two individuals (one male and one female) were caught in the net and tagged with GPS-GSM collars as a part of the larger ongoing GPS telemetry study. GPS collars were set to record a position every full hour, 24- hours per day. Female (4 years old) was killed by the wolves at night (23:45) on 22 of March 2015, just 11 days after GPS-tagging. Therefore we did not analyze its GPS data. Male (3 years old) abandoned vicinity of capture-release location 18 days after the release, moved approximately 15 km toward the south-east along mountain ridge of Mosor and settled down. His average daily sum of traveled distances was only 1.64 km. His circadiurnal locomotion activity typically exhibits two pronounced peaks, first one in the morning (6:00 am) and second one in the evening (20:00 pm), and two periods of low activity, first one lasting from 2:00-4:00 am, and second one during midday (11:00-14:00). Results of daily activity of Barbary sheep can be described as a bimodal which is typical pattern described in chamois populations. Our study was based on a small number of animals but still is one of the first GPS studies on free range Barbary sheep.

nonative ungulate ; GPS telemetry ; movements ; activity ; Croatia

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