Publications by authors named "Michal Figura"

Understanding how large carnivores utilize space is crucial for management planning in human-dominated landscape and enhances the accuracy of population size estimates. However, Eurasian lynx display a large inter-population variation in the size of home ranges across their European range which makes extrapolation to broader areas of a species distribution problematic. This study evaluates variations in home range size for 35 Eurasian lynx in the Western Carpathians during 2011-2022 based on GPS telemetry and explains how intrinsic and environmental factors shape lynx spatial behaviour when facing anthropogenic pressure.

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Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources. Over the past 20 years, events of juvenile Eurasian lynx presumably orphaned have been observed in many European lynx populations.

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Article Synopsis
  • Wolf populations in Central and Eastern Europe have rebounded over the last 20 years, returning to areas where they were previously exterminated.
  • Recognizing and understanding tick-borne pathogens in wolves, such as Babesia and Anaplasma, is essential for their conservation and health due to their potential as zoonotic reservoirs.
  • A study of 50 free-ranging wolves in Poland identified Babesia canis in 18% of the wolves tested, with one wolf showing evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, highlighting the connection between wolves, ticks, and possible disease transmission.
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Local extinction and recolonization events can shape genetic structure of subdivided animal populations. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was extirpated from most of Europe, but recently recolonized big part of its historical range. An exceptionally dynamic expansion of wolf population is observed in the western part of the Great European Plain.

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