Are wolves scavengers at the Veluwe? (MSc internships)

Scavengers, such as wild boar (Sus scrofa), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and common raven (Corvus corax), have far-reaching effects on ecosystem functioning. They can prevent carcass-stored nutrients from leaking into the soil, reducing the chance of leaching to deeper soil layers where nutrients become unavailable to plants. However, in Dutch protected areas, the course of the carcass decomposition process and scavenger activity are highly variable and unpredictable. 

The return of the wolf might alter facultative scavenger dynamics. Although wolves have been reported as functionally dominant scavengers elsewhere in Europe and anecdotal evidence is growing in the Netherlands, the importance of carrion in wolves’ diet in Dutch protected areas has not been quantified. 

We have opportunities for MSc internships or theses to work on: 

1. Scavenging behaviour of wolves in Dutch protected areas.
2. Shifting facultative scavenger communities after wolf re-establishment.

Internships consist of a mix of some fieldwork, wildlife camera analyses, and computational analyses. 

These projects will be executed together with Elke Wenting from Radboud University. Please contact Liesbeth Bakker (l.bakker@nioo.knaw.nl) or (elke.wenting@ru.nl) if you are interested to work on these topics.