Kaczensky, P., Hayes, R.D. & Promberger, C. 2005: Effect of raven Corvus corax scavenging on the kill rates of wolf Canis lupus packs. - Wildl. Biol. 11: 101-108.
During late winter 1991 and 1992, we investigated the influence of raven Corvus corax scavenging on the predation rate by different-sized wolf Canis lupus packs on moose Alces alces in the Yukon Territory, Canada. To assess the magnitude of scavenging, we presented 10 ungulate carcasses, pre-warmed to simulate the flesh temperature of freshly-killed prey, to scavengers and measured their daily consumption. Ravens were by far the main scavengers and on average, we counted 18.5 " 12.7 (SD) ravens and documented removal of 14.1 " 1.3 (SE) kg biomass each day (N = 53 observation days). However, assuming a daily scavenging rate of 14 kg by ravens fails to explain the almost equally short handling times for moose carcasses of small, medium and large packs. Only when raven consumption rate varies with pack size can we match the observed pattern. Assuming complete consumption, daily raven scavenging has to be 43 kg for ravens feeding on the kills of small wolf packs, 21 kg for ravens feeding on the kills of medium packs and close to zero for ravens feeding on the kills of large packs. Thus raven-wolf competition is highest for small packs, where ravens manage to remove up to 75% of the edible biomass and very low for large packs where ravens hardly manage to remove any edible biomass. Large packs seem to leave less opportunity for ravens to feed on carcasses, possibly because some wolves are always present at the kill and either actively chase away ravens or inhibit access to the carcass.
Key words: Canis lupus, Corvus corax, predation rate, raven, scavengers, wolf, Yukon
Petra Kaczensky*, Biological Faculty, University of Munich, Germany - e-mail: petra.kaczensky@wildlife.uni-freiburg.de
Robert D. Hayes, Box 5499, Haines Junction, Yukon, Y0B 1L0, Canada - e-mail: hayes@yknet.ca
Christoph Promberger**, Forestry Faculty, University of Munich, Germany - e-mail: christoph@clcp.ro
Present addresses:
*Department of Wildlife Ecology and Management, Institute of Forest Zoology, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany
**Wildlife Consulting, Marktplatz 4, D-86989 Steingaden, Germany
Corresponding author: Petra Kaczensky
Received 10 January 2003, accepted 14 April 2004
Associate Editor: Henryk Okarma