In human-dominated landscapes, animals are likely to be impacted by human activities. Besides having direct effects on demography due to harvest mortality, hunting has been showed to also have indirect effects, such as predator-avoidance responses in many prey species. We analyzed GPS tracking data of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the alpine environment of Trentino (Italy), to assess the effect of hunting and conservation status on their movement behavior. Using a quasi-experimental setting, we compared movement behavior of roe deer before, during and after the hunting season (August, September, and October, respectively), in the protected reserve of Monte Bondone (control) versus both the surrounding unprotected area, and the unprotected Val Rendena (impacts). We tested the hypothesis that roe deer in the unprotected areas would show a behavioral response to hunting pressure consisting in hiding and seeking shelter, and resulting in a reduction of movement rate. Conversely, we expected to find no alteration of movement behavior for individuals living within the reserve. We used information theory to test for significant differences in models of movement rate for each area, month, sex, and their combinations.
Results/Conclusions
In agreement with our expectations, movement rate was significantly lower during hunting season in the unprotected areas compared to the reserve, for both males and females. However, males and females showed different movement rate patterns across study areas and over time. Differences across study areas throughout the study period were especially interesting for males: while movement rate was found to be constant for males within the protected area across the entire study period, it was lower within the reserve compared to the unprotected areas before the hunting season (August). Altogether, our results highlighted evidence of a roe deer behavioral response to hunting in terms of movement behavior. Moreover, we observed a different movement behavior for males within and outside the reserve during the summer, when male roe deer exhibit territorial behavior. Interestingly, these results suggest that conservation status can play an important role, either directly or indirectly (through the effect of density), in determining the observed differences across areas during the territoriality phase. We conclude that hunting affects movement behavior of roe deer in Trentino, and that conservation status has significant impacts both on their anti-predator response and on behavioral aspects linked to their reproductive activity.