Navigating a landscape of contrasting hunting regimes and habitats: red deer responses to risk and resources

Habitat selection of ungulates is influenced by various factors, with human interactions playing a significant role. Human disturbances through hunting strongly affect ungulate behaviour, often forcing them to modify their habitat choices by avoiding areas where the risk from humans outweighs other habitat benefits. Gaining insights into these dynamics of human-wildlife interactions is essential for reducing conflicts between hunting objectives and wildlife conservation efforts. Here, we used GPS tracking data of 32 female red deer Cervus elaphus to derive resource selection functions, analysing habitat selection of animals with both hunting and no-hunting zones within their home range in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany.Red deer habitat selection differed distinctly between hunting and no-hunting zones. In the hunting zone, red deer more strongly selected closed forests, indicating a priority for safety. This pattern was particularly strong during daylight hours (i.e. the primary time of hunting) during which they also greatly reduced their movement. During night-time, when hunting risk was absent, red deer strongly selected open habitats and increased their movement rate. Conversely, red deer consistently selected open habitats and had similar movement rates during both day and night in the no-hunting zone, reflecting a preference for foraging grounds when not influenced by hunting. Our results highlight red deer's ability to distinguish between and adapt to areas of varying risk within their home range.These insights are critical for targeted wildlife management and conservation. On the one hand, they demonstrated that hunting can be strategically used as a management tool to control red deer habitat use, reducing their presence and thus potentially their impact on specific areas. On the other hand, the finding that hunting distinctly influences red deer habitat selection and movement highlights the value of no-hunting zones for the conservation of natural behaviour of ungulate populations.

TU Dresden Univ Tech
Berchtesgaden Natl Pk
Technical University of Munich