Fruits and roots: Wild boar foods during the cold season in the southwestern Pyrenees

In order to understand wild boar's diet during the cold season and its alternatives to mast in a southern European mountain range, 234 wild boar stomachs we collected in autumn and winter during three consecutive hunting seasons. The study was undertaken in several valleys of the southwestern P...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Italian journal of zoology 2005-01, Vol.72 (1), p.49-52
Main Authors: Herrero, Juan, Irizar, Iñaki, Laskurain, Nere Amaia, García-Serrano, Alicia, García-González, Ricardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autumn and winter
Feeding habits
Southwestern Pyrenees
Stomach content
Wild boar
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In order to understand wild boar's diet during the cold season and its alternatives to mast in a southern European mountain range, 234 wild boar stomachs we collected in autumn and winter during three consecutive hunting seasons. The study was undertaken in several valleys of the southwestern Pyrenees, a third of which was forest. Results indicated that diet mainly consisted of plant matter from the aerial parts of different forest plants. The most important items in terms of abundance and frequency of appearance were beechnuts Fagus sylvatica, acorns from white oak Quercus humilis and holm oak Q. ilex, and bracken Pteridium aquilinum roots. Those items represented 70.7% of the total volume. The alternative to hard mast was roots. The amount of animal matter in the diet was small but consumed frequently and consistently during the three hunting periods. Due to the abundance of forest fruits, alternative natural foods and the mosaic of forest, there was little crop damage in the area.
ISSN:1125-0003
1748-5851
DOI:10.1080/11250000509356652