The Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area in Mongolia – refuge or sink for wolves Canis lupus in the Gobi?
The Mongolian hunting law does not mention the wolf, which is generally interpreted that wolves can be hunted anytime and everywhere, including protected areas. We investigated whether the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area, a strict nature reserve in south-western Mongolia, acts as a refuge or a sink for wolves in the Gobi. Our expectations were that (1) wolves in the Gobi have large ranges similar to those in other equally unproductive habitats, (2) experience a high hunting pressure, and (3) have recently become an important export item for cross-border trade to China. We combined GPS positions of two adult wolves, wolf harvest data and a market survey on wildlife products to address the above questions. Range use of the two collared wolves was huge, but varied widely between the two animals (6,670 km² for an adult female and 26,619 km² for an adult male) and over time. Reproductive and residency status was only known during the initial 8-months monitoring period of the female. During this "resident" period her range size was 1,275 km². Both wolves showed a clear preference of mountainous terrain over flat steppe, suggesting that only 21% of the SPA constitute preferred wolf habitat. Annual harvest in the park and its vicinity averaged 1 wolf per 265 km² in 2002/03, 1 wolf per 120 km² in 2003/04 and 1 wolf per 310 km² in 2004/05. However, hunting pressure was unequally distributed and particularly high in the north-eastern corner of the park. During the active monitoring period of wolf F1, 35 wolves were killed within her "resident" range, suggesting a high hunting pressure. Most wolves were shot from motorized vehicles, possibly explaining the preference of wolves for mountainous terrain which is inaccessible for vehicles. The market surveys revealed products from ~2,000 wolves on the two border markets, a huge discrepancy to only 150 CITES permits officially issued annually. Although our data is insufficient to allow a truly quantitative assessment of the impact of human induced mortality on wolf conservation status in the Great Gobi B SPA, it points towards a potentially severe conservation problem requiring further attention.
Key words: Canis lupus, hunting, home range, management, Mongolia