Reproduction of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in coniferous-small-leaved forests of Belarus | Воспроизводство популяции лисицы обыкновенной (Vulpes vulpes) в хвойно-мелколиственных комплексах Беларуси
2010
Sidorovich, A.A., Belarus State Univ., Minsk (Belarus) | Sidorovich, V.E., National Academy of Sciences (Belarus). The Scientific and Practical Center for Bioresources
Reproductive output (terms of mating and cubbing, barrenness, productivity, post-implantation mortality, litter size, portion of young individuals) in red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in coniferous-small-leaved forests of Belarus is studied. The number of formed embryos and the quantity of alive fox-cubs is analyzed. Age structure of fox population, evaluated by hunted individual and embryos' number per biological year, is presented. Some parameters - pregnant females, formed fetuses, embryo mortality - of fox reproduction level are displayed. It is revealed that duration of cubbing in human-altered landscape is considerably long-drawn (February-August) compared to semi-natural woodlands (May-June). Seven percent of vixens are barren. On average, one pregnant female fox has 5,0 foetuses, and post-implantation mortality is 7.4%. Young individuals comprised 63.1% of the population. Matching these data with the results got from other European countries indicates the presence of compensatory reproduction in response to eradication that makes limitation attempts inefficient.
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