Numbers, Distribution and Home Ranges of Predators

Abstract

The following pages describe all the carnivores and raptors that live in Białowieża Primeval Forest. The first and foremost aim of these brief ‘portraits’ is to show population sizes and densities of predators. The question of how many wolves, goshawks, lesser spotted eagles, and martens inhabit the forest is interesting in itself, particularly in the case of rare and endangered species. However, from an ecological standpoint, it is just the first step towards asking ‘Why that many or that few?’ Although in some species the answer would be past or current persecution by humans, the overwhelming majority of predators of BPF enjoy relatively undisturbed living conditions, and their densities reflect the potential of pristine temperate forests, where large trees or cavities for nest placement and suitable locations for dens and burrows are excessively abundant, and prey densities are shaped by natural factors.

On the ruins of their homes grows a young forest.

Wolves are returning and a bear sleeps secure in a raspberry thicket.

Czesław Miłosz, Notes. In Reverse, 1978