Ranging behaviour of the red fox in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy)

Abstract

The home-ranges and activities of the fox were studied by radiotelemetry in a high alpine valley of the Gran Paradiso National Park (Aosta, Italy). The patterns of food dispersion and availability, combined with those of human disturbance, are the shaping pressure on the fox's use of its range in a peculiar way. Foxes seem to prefer an intermediate belt between the valley floor and the high pasture as denning and resting areas where they return every day: this pattern seems the optimal strategy to have access to the food resources of both low and high altitude habitats. Success rates of different trapping gears are presented.