SPVet.it n. 121

Introduction

M1, a 3-year-old Italian grey wolf (Canis lupus), was found in the countryside of Umbria (Central Italy) on 29 March 2016, exhibiting serious neurological symptoms, such as ataxia, lateral recumbency and pedalage. After excluding traumatism and poisoning, principal infective diseases were investigated, showing serological positivity to IgM for Canine Distemper Virus (CDV). Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed on biological samples and confirmed the infection with Artic-like strain of CDV, which induces a high rate of mortality in wild animals. M1 was subjected to long-term hospitalization associated with constant health monitoring. The clinical condition of M1 rapidly improved and the control test for viral RNA showed negativity from September 2016. Full recovery from CDV was definitely

confirmed by further check-ups.

Method

Since the release of an animal affected by this serious disease presents lots of risks, M1 was equipped with a GPS and VHF tracking collar (Followit Tellus Medium). In order to understand how M1 reacted and adapted to the release in nature, his GPS-track was analysed with the aim to investigate his day-night behaviour and habitat choice.

Results

The release was successfully accomplished on 24 October 2016 in a non-hunting area, nearby the place where it had been found. M1 was monitored for 45 days and he walked 197 km (A). The home range and the core area (B) has been calculated from tracks, the high fragmentation level is due to the high mobility. M1 seems to find a quasi-stable area (C) only during the last week.

Discussion

M1 showed vitality and feeding ability. He alternated long periods of mobility with brief periods of rest. This may depend on the need of finding a territory free from other wolves. This need may also force M1 to move to built-environments. However, as expected, he maintained distance from houses during the day.

Unfortunately, on 8 December 2016, M1 lost his GPS collar. We found it after 20 days immersed in a river: it is very likely that M1 was killed and the collar was thrown into the water.

Home range (95%) Core area (50%)

A B C

M1 walked closer to houses at night (average distance night = 285.0 m,

average distance day = 426.2 m), as well as to roads (average

distance night = 493.8 m, average distance day = 647.1 m).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Path analysis by week

week km 0 10 20 30 40 50 43.8 36.2 38.7 11.2 27 21.2 18.8

Day Night Twilight

Path analysis km 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 −400 0 200 400 600 800 Twilight − Night Twilight − Da y Night − Da y

95% family−wise confidence level

Differences in mean levels of period The highest mobility was recorded at night,

while the lowest during the day (night 120 km, day 17 km, twilight 60 km). During the first three weeks, M1 showed

high mobility, covering more than half of the total. Anova F=7.769 p<0.001 con confronti al TukeyHSD: Day – Night = 0.0002 *** Day – Twilight = 0.02 ** Night – Twilight = 0.49 p > 0.05 21 22 40 61 91 94 130 Day Frequency 0 10 20 30 40 50 21 22 31 40 61 91 93 94 130 141 142 151 160 170 180 191 200 Night Frequency 0 10 20 30 40 50 grasslands grasslands forest forest X-squared = 310.35; p<0.001 22 and 91 select X-squared = 87.444; p<0.001 22 select; 40 and 94 avoid

riparian vegetation

M1 chose to use forests and grassland at night, while it selected forests, avoiding grasslands and riparian vegetation during the day.

Day m Frequency 0 500 1000 1500 0 10 20 30 40 Night m Frequency 0 500 1000 1500 0 20 40 60 80 Mann Whitney W = 8577 p < 0.001 Day m Frequency 0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 5 10 15 20 25 Night m Frequency 0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 10 20 30 40 50 Mann Whitney W = 7783 p < 0.05

The life of M1, an Italian wolf affected by Canine Distemper Virus: release and monitoring by GPS telemetry

Vercillo F.

_{, Grelli D.}

_{, La Porta G.}

_{, Gobbi M.}

_{, D’Avino N.}

_{, Ragni B.}

_,

Convito L.

_{, Sergiacomi U.}

1 _{WildUmbria Association, Perugia (Italy) - [email protected]} 2 _{Dept. of Chemistry, Biology and e Biotechnology - University of Perugia (Italy)} 3 _{Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Umbria and Marche "Togo Rosati" - Perugia (Italy)}

4 _{Osservatorio Faunistico Regionale, Regione Umbria - Perugia (Italy)}

Mobility of M1 during the monitoring M1 daily mobility

Use of vegetation categories

Distance from houses Distance from roads