Morfološka analiza grivastog skakača: introducirana populacija je dobro prilagođena Mediteranskom staništu

The aoudad is a bovid species native to North Africa and highly adaptable to different environments. Although some morphological data of aoudad has been published, the research mostly dealt with measurements taken from captive populations. Therefore, morphological data of free-ranging populations in their non-native habitat is largely unknown. The present study analysed the important morphometric parameters in a non- native Mediterranean population of aoudad. Body and horn measurements were taken on 30 free-range aoudads (20 M, 10 F) legally culled from 2014 to 2019. A descriptive analysis of the quantitative body and horn measurements was performed and an insight into population growth rates was provided. The Mediterranean population of aoudad showed higher mean values of investigated body and horn measurements and higher growth rates than in other research, ranging from ca. 2 – 10% for most of the measurements. The results suggest that the investigated population is well adapted to Mediterranean habitat which allowed aoudad to notably allocate energy to both body and horn development. This research is a contribution to knowledge about how specific habitat might shape aoudad population life-history traits.Grivasti skakač je autohtoni šupljorožac Sjeverne Afrike i iznimno prilagodljiv različitim staništima. Iako su morfološki podaci grivastog skakača objavljivani, istraživanja su se uglavnom oslanjala na mjere uzete iz populacija u zatočeništvu. Zbog toga, morfološki podaci slobodnih populacija grivastog skakača u stranim staništima su uvelike nepoznati. U ovom istraživanju analizirani su važni morfometrijski parametri alohtone Mediteranske populacije grivastog skakača. Prikupljene su mjere tijela i rogova 30 grivastih skakača (20 M, 10 Ž) legalno odstreljenih između 2014. i 2019. godine. Napravljena je deskriptivna analiza kvantitativnih mjera tijela i rogova i pružen osvrt na stopu rasta populacije. Mediteranska populacija grivastog skakača pokazala je više srednje vrijednosti istraživanih mjera tijela i rogova te snažniju stopu rasta za oko 2 – 10% nego što je prikazano u ostalim istraživanjima. Rezultati sugeriraju da je istraživana populacija dobro prilagođena Mediteranskom staništu koje je omogućilo značajno usmjerenje energije u tjelesni razvoj i razvoj rogova. Ovo istraživanje doprinosi znanju kako posebnosti staništa mogu oblikovati značajke životnog ciklusa populacija grivastog skakača

Wild Boar Attack – A Case Report of a Wild Boar Inflfl icted Injury and Treatment

Croatia is a relatively safe country in regards to wild animal attacks and trauma to humans, even though there are a few reported cases of wild animal attacks on humans almost every year. As a bio-diversity hot-spot it is inhabited by a few wild animal species that are known to attack humans and cause serious, sometimes even fatal injuries to humans throughout the world, such as wolves, brown bears and wild boars. We present a case of a recent wild boar attack on a human – a hunter that occurred in central Croatia in the year 2012. The injured person was a part of a group of hunters involved in a drive hunt on wild boars. He sustained a 4 cm long laceration of the left knee by a wounded male wild boar. After the surgical and antibiotic treatment he recovered completely and without any complications

Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in Croatia – A Hazard for Humans and Animals

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increased and now there is a world-wide problem related to significant mortality of wildlife, habitat fragmentation, change in behavior and even disappearance of local endangered populations. Along with these deleterious effects on wildlife, WVC can also result in injuries and deaths of humans. During the three-year monitoring, a total of 7,495 wildlife-vehicle collisions were recorded, including mainly roe deer (73%), while other species were less frequently affected (wild boar – 9%; brown hare – 5%; and red deer and pheasant each with 4%). Incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions were observed according to territorial distribution, seasonal and daily occurrence and type of road (total and per 1 km)

The game damages on agricultural crops in Croatia

Conflicts between wildlife and humans have been reported from all over the world, but in Croatia the extent and intensity of the conflict is increasing. Agricultural damage by game is a major concern for both agricultural and wildlife agencies at the national level. In this study 4,695 cases of game damage over a 4-year period were analysed. Results indicated that the total amount of economic impact on agriculture from game damage was significant. The distribution of payments shows that a majority of payments have lower economic value with an average amount of single payment being 477.08 €. The annual number of payments was found to have a negative correlation coefficient (-0.469) to the total payment amount for damages. According to the number of payments (68% of the number of payments) and the payment amount (60% of total payment amount), the crop most often damaged was maize. Analysis of the data found that there was a negative growth trend of payment frequency and total payment amount for grape vineyards. The correlation between yearly number of payments and yearly production was not calculated for any crop. The high seasonal nature of payments was a determent of seasonal regression using a dummy variable regression (r2=0.93). A comparison of the monthly number of payments and monthly amounts is depicted by a time series using a seasonal line. The impact of wild boar damage on agriculture crops, in total, leads to the conclusion that this game species is a major problem. The results showed a specific subset of game damage in Croatia and, as such, it can be extrapolated to provide insight into the damage caused by wild boar in other countries

Traces of past reintroduction in genetic diversity:The case of the Balkan chamois (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)

The translocation of wild animal species became a common practice worldwide to re-establish local populations threatened with extinction. Archaeological data confirm that chamois once lived in the Biokovo Mountain but, prior to their reintroduction in the 1960s, there was no written evidence of their recent existence in the area. The population was reintroduced in the period 1964–1969, when 48 individuals of Balkan chamois from the neighbouring mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina were released. The main objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of the existing historical data on the origin of the Balkan chamois population from the Biokovo Mountain and to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of the source and translocated populations 56 years after reintroduction. Sixteen microsatellite loci were used to analyse the genetic structure of three source chamois populations from Prenj, Čvrsnica and Čabulja Mountains and from Biokovo Mountain. Both STRUCTURE and GENELAND analyses showed a clear separation of the reintroduced population on Biokovo from Prenj's chamois and considerable genetic similarity between the Biokovo population and the Čvrsnica-Čabulja population. This suggests that the current genetic composition of the Biokovo population does not derive exclusively from Prenj, as suggested by the available literature and personal interviews, but also from Čvrsnica and Čabulja. GENELAND analysis recognised the Balkan chamois from Prenj as a separate cluster, distinct from the populations of Čvrsnica and Čabulja. Our results thus highlight the need to implement genetic monitoring of both reintroduced and source populations of endangered Balkan chamois to inform sustainable management and conservation strategies in order to maximise the chances of population persistence

Morfološka varijabilnost populacije divlje svinje u Hrvatskoj

Between 2007 and 2009, a total of 181 individual wild boar were scored using nineteen morphological measurements from three geographical regions to describe morphological variety of the population throughout Croatia. In some regions we found phenotypical variability of the wild boar population based on hybridization The results of ANOVA show that some variables were significantly different (body weight, tail length, trunk length) but some of them were not homogenous for all age classes (circumference of shin, the most caudal point of scapula, circumference at chest) and were unable to highlight differences among the areas. The redundancy analysis (RDA) showed a connection of sampling sites with some morphological trait. Results of cluster analysis using TREE procedure indicate separation on the two subpopulations and suggesting the existence of morphological differences. Overall the results confirmed that different morphotypes of wild boar are detectable in some different areas of Croatia, and in some counties the wild boar population has been hybridized with domestic pigs, which result in phenotypical variability where the wild characteristics predominate. These results confirmed the need for population genetic studies to identify the different subpopulations of wild boar presently found in CroatiaIzmeđu 2007. i 2009. godine, ukupno 181 jedinki divljih svinja, koristeći devetnaest morfoloških mjera sa tri geografske regije, korišteno je za opis morfološke raznolikosti populacije diljem Hrvatske. U nekim regijama pronašli smo fenotipsku varijabilnost populacije divljih svinja temeljenu na hibridizaciji. Rezultati ANOVA-e pokazuju da su neke varijable bile značajno različite (masa tijela, dužina repa, dužina rila), ali neke od njih nisu homo-gene za sve dobne skupine (opseg cjevanice, visina prednje noge od vrha plećke do tla, opseg prstiju). Multivarijatna statistička metoda (RDA) pokazala je povezanost lokaliteta s nekim morfološkim osobinama. Rezultati klaster analize pomoću TREE postupka ukazuje na razdvajanje dviju podpopulacija i sugerira postojanje morfoloških razlika. Ukupni rezultati potvrđuju da su različiti morfotipovi divljih svinja detektirani u različitim područjima Hrvatske, a u nekim regijama populacija divljih svinja je hibridizirala s domaćim svinjama, što ima za posljedicu fenotipsku varijabilnost gdje ipak karakteristike divljih svinja prevladavaju. Ovi rezultati potvrđuju potrebu za populacijsko genetskim istraživanja kako bi identificirali različite podpopulacije divlje svinje koje trenutno obitavaju u Hrvatskoj

THE USE OF MOLECULAR METHODS ON WILD BOARS (Sus scrofa L.)

The existence of high diversity between animal populations and species, negative human infl uence through overexploitation, as well as changes of natural habitats, both ensured the fact that animal entered into the focus of many molecular biological investigations. The goal of this paper has been directed on the review of the most used techniques in the differentiation of animal populations, including their advantages and weaknesses

Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in Croatia – A Hazard for Humans and Animals

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increased and now there is a world-wide problem related to significant mortality of wildlife, habitat fragmentation, change in behavior and even disappearance of local endangered populations. Along with these deleterious effects on wildlife, WVC can also result in injuries and deaths of humans. During the three-year monitoring, a total of 7,495 wildlife-vehicle collisions were recorded, including mainly roe deer (73%), while other species were less frequently affected (wild boar – 9%; brown hare – 5%; and red deer and pheasant each with 4%). Incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions were observed according to territorial distribution, seasonal and daily occurrence and type of road (total and per 1 km)

KONDICIJA I CPUE POPULACIJE EUROPSKOG LIPLJENA (THYMALLUS THYMALLUS L.) U HRVATSKOJ RIJECI KUPI

The study was carried out on the material of 98 European grayling (Thymallus thymallus L., 1758) from upper part Kupa river, in northwest Croatia. The research included angling by fly fishing tackle and collecting the data of fish species characteristics. Values of condition factor (CF) ranged from 0.615 to 2.239, but average value of this parameter is 1.094±0.27. The condition factor by dates of sampling indicated that all grayling caught before November, have had a negative condition factor. The quantity of fish present in the upper part of the Kupa river was evaluated using the catch per unit efforts (CPUE) parameter. The average value of CPUE parameter is 2.25±1.01.Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 98 Europskih lipljena (Thymallus thymallus L., 1758) iz gornjeg toka rijeke Kupe, u sjeverozapadnoj Hrvatskoj. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo ribolov pomoću mušičarskog pribora i skupljanje podataka o ribljim karakteristikama. Vrijednost faktora kondicije (CF) kretala se od 0.615 do 2.239, a srednja vrijednost ovog parametra je 1.094±0.27. Faktor kondicije pokazuje da lipljeni ulovljeni prije studenog imaju negativni faktor kondicije. Kvantiteta riba prisutnih u gornjem toku rijeke Kupe procjenjena je parametrom ulova po jedinici napora (CPUE). Srednja vrijednost CPUE parametra iznosi 2.25±1.01

DUŽINSKO-MASENI ODNOS KOD EUROPSKE JEGULJE Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) IZ ŠEST KRŠKIH RIJEKA JADRANSKOG SLIVA U HRVATSKOJ

This study presents the first references available for the length–weight relationships(LWRs) of eels from six karstic rivers in Croatia. A total of 380 European eels 13.0–76.0 cm long were collected by electro-fishing from six karst catchments of the Adriatic basin between 2004 and 2007. Eels of34.0 cm in length dominated (over 50%) the catches, while abundance of eel smaller than 15.0 cm was very low. Value b of LWRs remained within the range between 2.5957 and 2.8155, which indicates a negative allometricgrowth. CPUE (g 100 m-1) rapidly declined during the period of sampling, probably due to environmental changes, but also due to global disappearance of this species.Ovo istraživanje donosi prve dostupne podatke o dužinsko-masenom odnosu (LWRs) kod jegulja iz šest krških rijeka u Hrvatskoj. U razdoblju između 2004. i 2007. godine, elektroribolovomje prikupljeno ukupno 380 primjeraka europske jegulje dužine 13,0 – 76,0 cm. Preko 50% ulova činile su jegulje dužine 34,0 cm, dok je ulov primjeraka manjih od 15,0 cm bio neznatan.Vrijednost b LWRs-a kretala se u rasponu između 2,5957 i 2,8155, što ukazuje na negativni alometrijski rast. CPUE (g 100 m-1) naglo je pao tijekom razdoblja uzorkovanja, vjerojatno zbog promjena u okolišu, ali i zbog globalnog nestanka ove vrste