Four wolves provide new data on territories and movement

Four Saxon wolves are currently using transmitter collars to provide data for research into their behavior. The animals live in the northern district of Görlitz, according to the State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology. They have been sending data on their whereabouts from there since March 2024.

Three animals from one pack

Three of the tagged wolves are part of the same pack. This is reportedly unique in Saxony. The female "Tilda", born in 2020, and the male "Leon", born between 2017 and 2019, are the parents of "Yuma", who was part of the 2023 litter. "Tilda" gave birth to puppies again last May.

The core area of the pack, known as "Daubitz II", is the eastern part of the Oberlausitz military training area. According to the data obtained, they are not constantly traveling together. "Leon" has a much larger roaming area than his fawn and his daughter and repeatedly makes shorter excursions into neighboring areas.

Territory changes tracked

The fourth wolf is the two to three-year-old "Janos", the male of a new pack south of Weißkeißel. Based on his movement profile, the researchers were able to track a change of territory. The male has been using the former core area of the "Sagar" pack since the beginning of 2024, but this has not been detected since the winter of 2023/2024. Together with his partner, "Janos" raised four pups last summer.

Another wolf, which was tagged last April, died in a traffic accident three months later.

Tagging program running since 2019

The tagging program is part of Saxony's wolf monitoring. Since 2019, 17 wolves have been fitted with a transmitter collar. The first project phase of the program was completed at the end of 2021, with the second phase lasting from 2022 to 2024.

The data obtained should enable researchers to track dynamics in the wolf packs and close gaps in knowledge about the populations. Among other things, the size, location and spatial-temporal use of a wolf territory and the migration behavior of young animals will be determined.