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The Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758) is the only species of family Herpestidae that occurs naturally in Europe. It was restricted to SW Iberian Peninsula from where it seems to be expanding in the last decades. However, information on mongoose distribution and recent trends in some areas, such as central Spain (e.g. Castilla - La Mancha region), is scarce. With the aim of updating the distribution of the species in Spain, and particularly in this central area, we 1) performed a systematic questionnaire survey to environmental rangers, 2) collected citations from experts, and 3) carried out specific field surveys in some particular areas. Overall, 1,305 citations of the Egyptian mongoose were collected, resulting in 193 new 10x10 km UTM grids with mongoose occurrence in Spain; this extended the Egyptian mongoose distribution to 28.34 % of the Iberian 10x10 km UTM grids. Our results show that the Egyptian mongoose occurs in most of Extremadura, western Castilla - La Mancha and centralwestern Andalucía, with some isolated records in northern areas of Spain. This suggests that the range of this mongoose may be expanding in Spain, although other possible explanations for the new records, such as the lack of previous systematic studies on the species in the allegedly expanding area, could not be fully discarded.

Humans have transformed most landscapes across the globe, forcing other species to adapt in order to persist in increasingly anthropogenic landscapes. Wide-ranging solitary species, such as wild felids, struggle particularly in such landscapes. Conservation planning and management for their long-term persistence critically depends on understanding what determine survival and what are the main mortality risks. We carried out the first study on annual survival and cause-specific mortality of the European wildcat with a large and unique dataset of 211 tracked individuals from 22 study areas across Europe. Furthermore, we tested the effect of environmental and human disturbance variables on the survival probability. Our results show that mortalities were mainly human-caused, with roadkill and poaching representing 57% and 22% of the total annual mortality, respectively. The annual survival probability of wildcat was 0.92 (95% CI = 0.87–0.98) for females and 0.84 (95% CI = 0.75–0.94) for males. Road density strongly impacted wildcat annual survival, whereby an increase in the road density of motorways and primary roads by 1 km/km2 in wildcat home-ranges increased mortality risk ninefold. Low-traffic roads, such as secondary and tertiary roads, did not significantly affect wildcat's annual survival. Our results deliver key input parameters for population viability analyses, provide planning-relevant information to maintain subcritical road densities in key wildcat habitats, and identify conditions under which wildcat-proof fences and wildlife crossing structures should be installed to decrease wildcat mortality., This research was funded by: the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as part of the mFund project “WilDa—Dynamic Wildlife–Vehicle Collision warning, using heterogeneous traffic, accident and environmental data as well as big data concepts” grant number 19F2014B; the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) Research Grants, Short-Term Grants, 2020 (57507441); the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (DeWiSt). The data from Cabañeros National Park were collected in the frame of the project OAPN 352/2011 funded by Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales. MM was supported by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231). FDR was supported by a postdoctoral contract funded by the University of Málaga through the grants program “Ayudas para la Incorporación de Doctores del I Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Málaga (Call 2019)”. PM was supported by UIDB/50027/2020 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds.

Protected areas recently created in Argentina often include previously degraded lands, such as sheep ranches in the Patagonian deserts. We show the results of a 14-year monitoring program of three formerly persecuted carnivores, the culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus), the South American grey fox (Lycalopex griseus) and the puma (Puma concolor), in two abandoned sheep ranches that were incorporated into a Patagonian national park approximately 25 years ago. The culpeo fox population underwent an average annual decline of 10&ndash, 23%, whereas the grey fox and puma populations increased at an average annual rate of 7% and 19%, respectively. The grey fox&rsquo, s increasing trends were strongly correlated with the decline of the culpeo fox, whereas the correlations between the fox and puma trends were weaker. Culpeo fox decline was stronger in the ranch where sheep and predator controls had been removed earlier. These relationships between species trends support the competitive release hypothesis, assuming that puma competition with the culpeo fox for trophic resources is stronger than competition with the grey fox, and that the puma can exclude culpeo foxes through interference. Species trends suggest a competitive hierarchy between fox species, with grey fox being the inferior competitor. However, mechanisms other than competition could not be discounted. Our study illustrates how long-term monitoring of interacting species allows a better understanding of ecological processes and wildlife ecology.

It is known that the garden dormouse Eliomys quercinus includes meat in its diet, however, it is unclear if scavenging is a widespread behaviour, as it is difficult to observe in the wild. Here, we document scavenging behaviour for the species based on direct evidence. We captured five garden dormice with live traps using dead baits, which were partially or totally consumed. Additionally, a camera-trap recorded how at least one garden dormouse visited and actively consumed the bait on 12 occasions during the study. These observations suggest that carrion may play an important role in the garden dormouse's diet, opening a new ecological unexplored topic for this species., This study was funded by projects TOPIGEPLA (Fundación BBVA Research Projects, 2014 call) and Movi-Topi (I + D National Plan Project, CGL2015-71255-P). F. Díaz-Ruiz was supported by a “Juan de la Cierva” research contract (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Funder Id: 10.13039/501100004837, FJCI-2015-24949) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.

Currently, there are naturalized populations of feral pigeon (Columba livia var. domestica) worldwide with an estimated global population between 165 and 330 million individuals. Feral pigeons are adapted to urban environments, creating problems related to human health, damage to architectural structures, unpleasant soiling, and foul odors. Thus, local governments usually implement measures to reduce feral pigeon populations in cities to a suitable size. We monitored a feral pigeon trapping campaign to investigate the use of cage traps as control method in residential zones. We analyzed efficiency (daily capture rate), effectiveness (defined as the number of feral pigeons captured relative to the total number of potential pigeon captures), animal welfare, selectivity (the proportion of captured feral pigeons in relation to the total number of captured animals), and the effect on feral pigeon abundance. All procedures were conducted in compliance with current European and Spanish legislation. Overall efficiency was 0.25 feral pigeons/trap-day, effectiveness was 22.5%, and selectivity was 99.7%. Over the study period, there was a decreasing trend in abundances. A significant decrease was found in the relative abundances of feral pigeons after 2 months of extractions, and population abundances remained low up to the end of the extraction period. The use of cage traps was a useful and effective method to reduce local feral pigeon populations in isolated urban areas with low building density in which the feral pigeon population has not yet reached high densities., F. Díaz-Ruiz was supported by a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral contract (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Funder Id: 10.13039/501100004837, FJCI-2015- 24949) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.

Cage-trapping is one of the control methods frequently used by hunters to remove red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Spain, although its low efficiency and selectivity have been frequently reported. We tested the effect of the combinations of two bait types (live/ dead) and two scent attractants (fox urine/valerian extract) in order to improve the efficiency and selectivity of cage traps in central Spain. The combination of live bait and fox urine increased the efficiency of cage traps to capture red foxes in comparison with live bait alone. None of the experimental treatments led to a significant reduction in the capture rate of non-Target species, selectivity levels were always low (0%-21%) and non-Target species were captured. In view of that, the burden of releasing captured non-Target animals depends ultimately on the trapper. For this reason, the use of cage traps is still questionable for managing foxes in Spain., Castilla-La Mancha Regional Government; code numbers 02-227/RN-52 and PREG-05-23.

[Context]: Camera trapping is commonly employed for studying carnivores because it provides better data than do other methods, and with lower costs. Increasing the probability of detecting the target species can reduce parameter uncertainty and survey effort required to estimate density and occurrence. Different methods, including attractants and baits, can be used to increase detectability. However, their efficacy has rarely been quantitatively assessed. [Aims]: To quantify the efficacy of scent and bait attractants to increase the detection probability of mesocarnivores by camera trapping. [Methods]: We tested two scent lures, valerian extract (Val) and lynx urine (LU), their combination (Val-LU), and a non-reward bait (i.e. not accessible to the animal), raw chicken, as carnivore attractants in two protected areas of central Spain. We used camera-trapping records under an occupancy-modelling framework to estimate attractant-specific detection probabilities for six mesocarnivore species, and quantified their effects by comparing these estimates with the baseline (i.e. no attractant) detectability. [Key results]: The weekly detection probability of four mesocarnivore species (red fox, Vulpes vulpes, stone marten, Martes foina, common genet, Genetta genetta, and Eurasian badger, Meles meles) significantly increased when Val-LU (between 0.11±0.07 and 0.67±0.05) or chicken (between 0.31±0.02 and 0.77±0.22) were used as attractant, when compared with baseline detectability (between 0.01±0.02 and 0.29±0.05). Although rarely, wildcats (Felis silvestris) were mostly detected with Val-LU. The probability of detecting a species after k sampling occasions (7 days each) where it was present was highly improved with both Val-LU and chicken for all species (e.g. from 0.20 to 0.98 after four sampling occasions with chicken for the stone marten). Both attractants reduced the sampling time required to ascertain that a species was absent to between 42% and 15% of baseline values. [Conclusions]: The tested attractants greatly improved the detectability of most Iberian mesocarnivores. Although chicken was preferable for some species such as stone marten, Val-LU is most efficient for detecting the whole mesocarnivore community, including rare species such as wildcats. [Implications]: Attractant selection in studies using non-invasive detection methods must be supported by quantitative assessment of the detection probability associated to each attractant. Researchers must choose those attractants best fitting target species and study aims., This study was funded by Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales, project OAPN 352/2011. F. Díaz-Ruiz was supported by a Juan de laCierva postdoctoral contract (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Funder Id: 10.13039/501100004837, FJCI-2015-24949) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness). P. Monterroso was granted a postdoctoral fellowship by the project ‘Genomics Applied to Genetic Resources’ co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Program 2007/2013 (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The least weasel (Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766) is the world’s smallest carnivore (King & Powell 2007) and probably one of the most difficult to detect (García & Mateos 2009). It is widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere (McDonald et al. 2016), and seems to be a common and relatively abundant species, at least in some areas of the European continent (Larivière & Jennins 2009, Tikhonov et al. 2010). However, many basic aspects of its biology, distribution, population dynamics and ecology remain largely unknown in most areas of its range, a lack of information that is especially striking in Spain (Palazón 2017)., Julio Domínguez was supported by a predoctoral grant: “Programa Talento Formación” funded by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE) and Castilla La Mancha regional government (JCCM). Francisco Díaz-Ruiz was supported by a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral contract (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Funder Id: 10.13039/501100004837, FJCI-2015-24949) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Financial support was provided by MINECO (CGL2011-30274, CGL2015-71255-P), Fundación Biodiversidad and Fundación BBVA (TOPIGEPLA).

Daily activity patterns in mammals depend on food availability, reproductive stage, habitat selection, intraspecific interactions and predation risk, among other factors. Some mammals exhibit behavioral plasticity in activity patterns, which allows them to adapt to environmental changes. A good example of this can be found in the red fox Vulpes vulpes. This species is adapted to living in highly humanized environments, where it is often culled because it may affect human interests (e.g. through the consumption of game species or livestock). We assessed the potential main drivers of the daily activity patterns of the red fox in 12 Iberian Mediterranean areas through the use of camera traps. Among drivers, we considered main prey availability (European wild rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus), degree of human disturbance (e.g. distance to human settlements, and intensity of predator control) and habitat structure. Our results revealed a predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal activity of foxes with local variations. Although overall fox activity increased with rabbit availability, the temporal overlap with prey activity was on average low, because foxes increased activity when rabbits decreased theirs (twilight-night). Red fox activity rhythms seemed to be determined by human presence where human disturbance is high. In addition, diurnal activity decreased in areas with higher levels of human disturbance (closer to human settlements and high predator control intensity) and increased in dense habitats. Our study shows that daily activity patterns of highly adaptable species are determined by several interacting drivers, resulting in complex behavioral patterns. This suggests that further ecological studies should consider different factors simultaneously for a better understanding of daily activity patterns of wildlife in different landscapes., This study was funded by projectsCGL2009-10741 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU-FEDER funds); HUNTing for Sustainability(212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1), and OAPN352/2011 (Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, Spain). F. Díaz-Ruiz and J. Caro enjoyed postdoctoral contracts financedby the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Operational Programme FSE 2007/2013). M. Delibes-Mateos is currently funded by Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo of Junta de Andalucía, and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement 267226.

How foraging behaviour of predators is influenced by prey abundance is often not clear. Predators may behave as generalist or specialist depending on the relationship between the predator feeding behaviour and prey abundance, known as functional response. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a key species for most Iberian vertebrate predators, especially for large raptors such as the eagle owl (Bubo bubo). The eagle owl functional response was analysed in central Iberian Peninsula by fitting different models (null, linear, two asymptotic and two sigmoidal models) between rabbit abundance and rabbit consumption by the eagle owl. Rabbit consumption increased as did its abundance until reaching an asymptote. Rabbit-consumed biomass better fitted to a type II functional response (convex, typical of specialist predators), whereas rabbit frequency in eagle owl diet better fitted to a type III functional response (sigmoidal, typical of generalist predators). Trophic diversity increased as rabbit abundance decreased. The consumption of other prey, such as Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) and medium-size birds (mainly galliformes and columbiformes), increased as rabbit abundance decreased. The eagle owl is highly dependent on rabbits in central Spain, even at low rabbit abundance. In this situation, the eagle owl diversifies its diet, making it difficult to define the eagle owl as a specialist or as a generalist predator. Therefore, the eagle owl in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula should be rather considered as a facultative predator on wild rabbits., This study is a partial result of CGL2005–02340, CGL2009–10741, and CGL2013-43197 projects, from I+D National Plan funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU–FEDER funds. J. Fernandez-de-Simon benefitted from a FPI PhD scholarship (BES–2006–12562) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund. J. Fernandez-de-Simon and F. Diaz-Ruiz are currently holding a postdoctoral fellowship from Junta de Castilla-La Mancha and the European Social Fund (Operational Programme FSE 2007/2013).

Biogeographical diversity is central to the trophic ecology of predators. Under- standing the biogeographical trophic patterns of generalist predators, such as the red fox Vulpes vulpes, is particularly challenging because of their wide distribu- tions, broad trophic spectra and high ecological plasticity, which often generate conflicts with humans. 2. We reviewed 55 studies from the Iberian Peninsula concerning the diet of the red fox to describe its trophic patterns from a biogeographical perspective. 3. We considered the frequency of occurrence of seven food groups and charac- terized each study site according to environmental variables. We tested relation- ships between geographical variables and each food group independently, and assessed the consumption of lagomorphs in relation to the other food groups. We also tested the relationships between trophic diversity, the main food groups, lati- tude and altitude, and finally investigated changes in the consumption of all food groups in relation to habitat type and seasonality. 4. We found a latitudinal pattern in the diet of the red fox, which was character- ized by a greater consumption of lagomorphs and invertebrates in southern areas, and a higher intake of small mammals and fruits/seeds in northern regions. Addi- tionally, the consumption of invertebrates increased from east to west, while fruit/ seed consumption increased from west to east. Consumption of lagomorphs decreased, and of small mammals increased, with altitude. Trophic diversity was not associated with geographical variables. The intake of lagomorphs and small mammals was greatest in Mediterranean scrub and forest, respectively. Reptiles and invertebrates were consumed mostly during summer; fruits/seeds in autumn. 5. Iberian red foxes show variation in their feeding habits associated with envi- ronmental variables, which are in turn associated with the availability of their main prey. Foxes select rabbits where they are abundant, and feed on small mammals and fruits/seeds where lagomorphs are scarce. bs_bs_banner

The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is a key species in Mediterranean ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula, and reliable methods for monitoring its abundance are urgently required. Although clearance plot pellet counts may be useful in monitoring rabbit populations, such counts are potentially affected by variation in the persistence of rabbit pellets. The aim of our study was to assess persistence of rabbit pellets in the Iberian Peninsula for reliable estimates of rabbit abundance from clearance plot counts. We carried out the experiment from July 2006 to November 2007 at seven localities in central southern Spain. Marked fresh pellets were monthly placed at experimental plots, and their persistence was monitored monthly. Persistence was estimated from the proportion of marked pellets remaining between consecutive counts. Independent variables in analysis included slope steepness, vegetation, rabbit and ungulate activity, meteorology and temporal variables. Persistence significantly varied among localities and seasons and with their interaction. The final model showed that pellet persistence was best explained by total rainfall between counts, and also included the time between visits and slope steepness and the interactions rainfall*time between visits and rainfall*slope. Our results suggest that estimating pellet persistence for each locality and season is necessary to make estimates obtained from different localities and months comparable. In the Mediterranean region, early summer at the start of the dry season would be the recommended time for yearly rabbit monitoring based on any pellet-count index, since reduced rainfall favours pellet persistence. Sampling protocols must standardise the number of days between counts, and plots must be established in areas with gentle slope to maximise pellet persistence between counts., Our work is a partial result from the I+D National Plan Projects CGL2005-02340 and CGL2009-10741, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU-FEDER funds. J. Fernandez-de-Simon benefits from a FPI scholarship funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund. M. Delibes-Mateos is currently holding a Juan de la Cierva research contract awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund.

Widespread generalist predators may affect declining keystone prey populations. However, this phenomenon is not well understood. In this paper, we assessed whether the abundance and population growth of European rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, a keystone prey species in Mediterranean Iberia, was related to the abundance and diet of red foxes, Vulpes vulpes, a widespread generalist predator. In a locality in central Spain, where rabbit population abundance declined, we estimated rabbit abundance during almost 3 years and determined fox abundance and diet during two concurrent years. We calculated a fox predation index (percentage of consumed rabbit biomass × fox abundance) to assess the importance of rabbits to foxes. We employed a multi–model approach to explain rabbit abundance and population growth. Foxes consumed between 60 and 99 % rabbit biomass in their diets, and this was independent of rabbit abundance. Periods of higher fox predation index coincided with lower rabbit density and vice versa. Two models best explained rabbit abundance and four rabbit population growth. They included the fox predation index and its interaction with rabbit abundance during the previous month. Altogether, fox predation, intraspecific density dependence, and their interaction partly explained rabbit population dynamics. We conclude that in order to propel the recovery of the rabbit in Iberia, it is essential to better understand the role of these factors in driving the abundance of the species., This is a partial result from the I+D National Plan Projects CGL2005-02340, CGL2009-10741 and CGL2013-43197, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU FEDER funds. JFdS benefitted from a FPI PhD scholarship (BES- 2006-12562) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund. J. Fernandez-de-Simon and F. Díaz-Ruiz are currently holding a postdoctoral fellowship from Junta de Castilla-La Mancha and the European Social Fund (Operational Programme FSE 2007/2013). M. Delibes-Mateos is currently funded by Junta de Andalucía and the EU FP7, under grant agreement 267226.

The guiña (Leopardus guigna) is a small felid found primarily in temperate mixed forests of southern Andean and coastal ranges in Chile and Argentina. It is considered a vulnerable species, and is one of the least studied felids in the world. In this study our main aim was to document the relationship between the activity pattern of the guiña and that of its main prey in the Valdivian rainforest (Comau Fjord, southern Chile) using a camera-trap survey. We documented the activity patterns of small mammals and two ground-foraging bird species, as these have been previously cited as the main prey of this felid. Guiñas showed two nocturnal activity peaks, at the beginning and the end of the night, and a weak peak of activity at midday. Small mammals consistently revealed nocturnal activity, whereas both birds were strongly diurnal. Our results revealed a high overlap between the activity patterns of guiñas and small mammals, whereas this was negligible for the bird species. These findings support the idea that small mammals are guiñas' preferred prey in the Valdivian rainforest. Our study contributes to the understanding of the temporal relationships between the guiña and its prey, and may help to design effective management strategies to conserve this vulnerable felid., This study was funded by the agreement between Fundación Endesa, Fundación San Ignacio del Huinay and CSIC, and the Spanish Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (project OAPN 352/2011). M. Delibes-Mateos was supported a JAE-doc contract (Programa Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios), funded by CSIC and the European Social Fund and J. Caro had a postdoctoral contract jointly financed by the ESF and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM, Spain), in the framework of the Operational Programme FSE 2007–2013.

[ES]: La gestión de los depredadores generalistas en España se basa en el control directo de sus poblaciones, siendo una práctica ampliamente extendida dentro del ámbito cinegético que genera gran controversia entre diferentes grupos sociales. A pesar de esto, los esfuerzos dedicados al estudio de los diferentes aspectos relacionados con esta práctica son escasos. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido revisar los estudios científico-técnicos realizados hasta la fecha en nuestro país sobre esta actividad para describir cuál es el estado de conocimientos actual. El aspecto más estudiado hasta la fecha ha sido la evaluación de los métodos de captura. Métodos tradicionales como las jaulas-trampas para zorros son poco eficaces y poco selectivos, mientras que nuevos sistemas más eficaces y selectivos, como la trampa Collarum, parecen ser una alternativa aceptable. Sin embargo es escasa la información científica disponible sobre el efecto del control sobre las poblaciones de los propios depredadores, sus presas y otras especies. Según esta información las medidas habitualmente empleadas no tienen un efecto claro sobre las poblaciones de zorro, mientras que las poblaciones de urraca parecen reducirse a corto plazo. En el caso de las presas parecen reaccionar de forma positiva al control, aunque los resultados no son contundentes. Hay indicios de que otras especies de depredadores se pueden ver afectados por el control, sobre todo cuando este no es selectivo. Es necesario un mayor esfuerzo de investigación en este campo que contribuya a una gestión sostenible y respetuosa con otras especies en los cotos de caza., [EN]: Management of generalist predators in Spain is mainly based on direct population control with different wildlife management purposes. This generates a great controversy among different social groups. Predator control is a widespread practice in game management, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and black-billed magpie (Pica pica) being the main target species. Despite this, efforts to study different aspects of this practice are scarce. The aim of this study was to review the available scientific and technical studies about this activity in Spain, in order to describe the current state of knowledge. The evaluation of trapping methods for foxes and magpies was the most studied topic. Traditional methods such as cage-traps for foxes have low efficiency and low selectivity, while more selective new systems such as the Collarum trap could be an acceptable alternative. Cage-traps for magpies showed high efficiency and selectivity, at least in agricultural landscapes. However, there is little information available on the effects of control measures on the populations of predators, prey and other species. Existing evidence suggests that the effect of predator control on fox populations is not clear, while magpie populations seem to be reduced in the short term. Similarly, it is not clear whether prey populations increase as a result of predator control. There is evidence that other predator species may be affected by control measures, especially when they are not selective. Greater efforts are needed in this field of research in order to contribute to a sustainable management in hunting estates, respecting non-target species., Este trabajo ha sido posible gracias al proyecto 352/2011, financiado por el OAPN.