Importance of slaughter waste in winter diet of wolves (Canis lupus) in Serbia

Winter diet composition of wolves (Canis lupus) in Serbia was studied by analysing the stomach contents of 111 specimens collected from 2004 to 2014. Domestic animal remains dominated in wolf diet with 79.4 % of the total biomass consumed (B) and with the frequency of occurrence (O) of 70.2 %, of which domestic ungulates made up to 66.3 % of the total biomass consumed and 61.3% of the frequency of occurrence. Its natural prey included roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (12.2 % B, 7.26 % O) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) (7 % B, 12.9 % O). A relatively high percentage of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) was recorded (8 % B, 6.4 % O). No significant differences were observed in the diet of subadult and adult wolves (% B: G=15.83, p=0.071; % O: G=17.18, p=0.103). There was no difference in the amount of food consumed considering sex or age (sex: t=0.52, p=0.608; age: t=0.37, p=0.715). Like in many studies conducted in South Europe, our results show large dependence on anthropogenic food sources.