著者

大久保 響 吉村 珠美 山内 大樹 星野 仏方

出版者

酪農学園大学

雑誌

酪農学園大学紀要. 自然科学編 (ISSN:21870500)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.47, no.1, pp.25-39, 2022-10

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On northern Japanʼs Hokkaido Island, wolves (Canis lupus) have been extinct for 100 years. As a result, the sika deer (Cervus nippon) population has increased in recent years, causing damage to agriculture and to the forestry and fisheries industries and leading to an increase in train and automobile traffic accidents. On the other hand, wolves live in Mongolia where stock-farming is the main livelihood. Yet nomadic livestock herders have coexisted with wolves for centuries. The main reason for this successful coexistence in the Mongolian steppes can be attributed to the nomadsʼ understanding of wolf ecology. This understanding has led to the development of ways for humans and apex predators to interact with one another in this ecosystem. We also discovered that livestock damage caused by wolves in Mongolia is minimal because there is sufficient prey (e.g., red deer) and because the wolves and their prey do not live in proximity to humans. We note there has never been a documented attack by a wolf on a human in Mongolia. Our investigation of the habitat of wolves in Hustai National Park (HNP) in Mongolia gave us a base of information to assess the challenges that might occur if wolves are reintroduced into Hokkaido. Based on our habitat assessment of the island, we were able to estimate the carrying capacity of wolves on Hokkaido. We concluded that Hokkaido Island can successfully support approximately 1300 wolves with a prey base of up to 100,000 sika deer.