Annual and seasonal space use of different age classes of female wild boar Sus scrofa L.

In a radiotelemetric study, we analysed space use of 24 female specimens (14 family groups and 14 nonreproductive yearling females) out of 23 wild boar groups for periods between 3 and 39 months. Generally, wild boar used relatively small areas, showed high site fidelity but also a strong individual variation of home ranges, indicating a high flexibility in space use. Although age-specific differences were not statistically significant, female yearlings tended to have larger mean annual home ranges (1,185 ha MCP) than animals ranging in family groups (771 ha). Yearlings also showed a stronger shifting from spring to summer home ranges (2,345 m) and a tendency towards larger home range sizes in summer (791 ha MCP), compared to family groups (shift 1,766 m, MCP 461 ha). Yearlings displayed a dislocation of about 1 km of the annual centre in the first year after dividing from the mother. In contrast, in adults older than 2 years, the dislocation of the annual center was only 240 m.