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The size of the home range of a mammal is affected by numerous factors. However, in the normally solitary, but polygynous, Leopard (Panthera pardus), home range size and maintenance is complicated by their transitory social grouping behavior, which is dependent on life history stage and/or reproductive status. In addition, the necessity to avoid competition with conspecifics and other large predators (including humans) also impacts upon home range size. We used movement data from 31 sites across Africa, comprising 147 individuals (67 males and 80 females) to estimate the home range sizes of leopards. We found that leopards with larger home ranges, and in areas with more vegetation, spent longer being active and generally traveled faster, and in straighter lines, than leopards with smaller home ranges. We suggest that a combination of bottom-up (i.e. preferred prey availability), top-down (i.e. competition with conspecifics), and reproductive (i.e. access to mates) factors likely drive the variability in Leopard home range sizes across Africa. However, the maintenance of a large home range is energetically expensive for leopards, likely resulting in a complex evolutionary trade-off between the satisfaction of basic requirements and preventing potentially dangerous encounters with conspecifics, other predators, and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that felids hunt in dense vegetative cover, while canids do not make use of any vegetative cover while stalking their prey. The hunting behavior of lynx was compared to that of coyotes. Lynx change their hunting methods according to the vegetable cover available while coyotes have fixed hunting methods. The impact of a snow cover on the hunting tactics of each of the species is also discussed.

Moving and spatial learning are two intertwined processes: (a) changes in movement behavior determine the learning of the spatial environment, and (b) information plays a crucial role in several animal decision-making processes like movement decisions. A useful way to explore the interactions between movement decisions and learning of the spatial environment is by comparing individual behaviors during the different phases of natal dispersal (when individuals move across more or less unknown habitats) with movements and choices of breeders (who repeatedly move within fixed home ranges), that is, by comparing behaviors between individuals who are still acquiring information vs. individuals with a more complete knowledge of their surroundings. When analyzing movement patterns of eagle owls, Bubo bubo, belonging to three status classes (floaters wandering across unknown environments, floaters already settled in temporary settlement areas, and territory owners with a well-established home range), we found that: (1) wandering individuals move faster than when established in a more stable or fixed settlement area, traveling larger and straighter paths with longer move steps; and (2) when floaters settle in a permanent area, then they show movement behavior similar to territory owners. Thus, movement patterns show a transition from exploratory strategies, when animals have incomplete environmental information, to a more familiar way to exploit their activity areas as they get to know the environment better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which examined the patterns of post-fledgling dependence period (PFDP) movements of fledgling Eagle Owls or Bubo bubo. The study was conducted from late March to early August 2004-05 in the Sierra Norte of Seville, Spain. Eagle Owl is a socially monogamous long-lived species and considered as the largest owl in Europe. Mean distance between successive outlet locations were analysed to determine essential movement characteristics, while between-sibling distances were calculated to determine interaction between siblings. Results of the study showed that there was an increase in between-sibling distances and post-fledgling area (PFA) size throughout the PFPD. The study also found that both sex and time influenced between-sibling distances.