Although white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been studied extensively, ecological information lacks for O. virginianus rothschildi, a subspecies endemic to Coiba Island, Panama. A combination of camera traps (n = 29) deployed during March–July 2015 and Royle–Nichols occupancy model were used to estimate the sex-related detection, habitat use, and abundance of unmarked deer. No covariates influenced detection of individual sexes, but detection of sexes combined was greater on wildlife trails than maintained human foot trails and negatively related to daily maximum temperature. Predicted abundance of sexes combined and females were greatest along an ecotone of secondary forest and feral fields, whereas male abundance was greatest at an ecotone of secondary and primary forest. Results corroborated the common mixed edge habitat use of O. virginianus, with likely partitioning of resources between sexes due to differing habitat needs. Although primary forest dominants Coiba Island, lesser use of this habitat suggests that it may provide poorer resources for deer, at least during the period of this study. Additionally, habitat use suggested potential avoidance of areas with greater feral livestock and tourist use. Further research is needed to understand the ecology of this endemic subspecies, including potential anthropogenic threats.

Skull morphology of Mustela itatsi from two islands adjacent to Kyushu, Kamikoshikijima and Yakushima Isls., Kagoshima Prefecture were compared with populations from mainland Japan. Although size and shape variation of these island populations were within whole species range of variation, the size variation was less than that of some mainland populations. In contrast, canonical variate analysis showed a separation of the Yakushima population from other populations compared. Between these islands, skull shape was different, indicating that ecological difference such as prey size and abundance may exist. Island populations of M. itatsi could have been differentiated from mainland populations depending on different ecological conditions and geological history of each island.

Although the Korean population of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) was designated as an endangered species, habitat and basic ecology of Korean otters have been rarely known. To ascertain sprainting behavior of the Eurasian otter in the freshwater habitat and investigate the habitat preferences, otter surveys along the Ungok River in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, were conducted for a 12-month period during 2002 and 2003. Seasonal fluctuations of the number of spraints and sprainting sites along the river were identified. The number of spraints and sprainting sites peaked in March. General linear models indicated site-dependency in the numbers of spraints and sprainting sites. The general linear mixed model indicated that the numbers of spraints (or sprainting site) were positively correlated with vegetations on riverbanks and river depth. Although human impact and river width were significantly related to the number of spraints, they did not show significant relationship to the number of sprainting sites. Despite several coincidence with studies in Europe, sprainting behavior by otters along a montane river in South Korea suggested differences in regional and spatial level. This ecological information on the Korean population of the Eurasian otter will assist the investigation of population size and help habitat management for otters.

Documenting reliable and concrete data makes camera-trapping an appropriate tool for many secretive large mammals. Camera-trapping has been widely used for detecting the large mammal fauna of Turkey. However, systematic surveys and comprehensive assessments are still not sufficient for assessing wildlife populations in the country. In the present study, populations of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and wildcat (Felis silvestris) were monitored by systematic camera-trapping, and their co-existence was investigated with 70 camera-trap stations between 2014–2018 in northern Anatolia. Daily activity patterns and kernel density estimation were used to analyse and compare temporal patterns of target species. High temporal overlap (Δ₄: 0.81) for Eurasian lynx and wildcat at the same study sites, and no alteration in wildcat activity pattern in the presence of Eurasian lynx, suggest that these two felid species can co-exist in the same habitats using the same period of the day. Domestic cat (Felis catus) was detected at 52.5% of the wildcat-positive stations indicating that there is hybridisation threat for the wildcat population in the region. The study reveals that systematic camera-trapping surveys are an applicable method for monitoring cryptic mammalian carnivores and provide useful insights into the threats on wildlife populations like hybridisation.

The availability of fruits, but not animal prey, to consumer species is strictly limited to the fruiting period of specific plant species. This study aimed to identify the short-term fruit consumption of an omnivorous carnivoran in relation to daily phenological changes in the number of ripe fruits of multiple fruiting species during peak fruiting seasons (spring and fall). We collected the scats of the Tsushima marten (Martes melampus tsuensis) and documented changes in their diet according to the fruiting phenology of plants (spring and fall: five and three fruit species, respectively) at 1–2-day intervals. Four fruiting species were foraged by martens as soon as they started fruiting, while the other four fruiting species were rarely consumed. The high overlap in the fruiting period of different fruiting species in the study area resulted in martens preferentially feeding on certain fruits. Unlike the other fruiting species, persimmon (Diospyros kaki) exhibited an asynchronous fruiting pattern, with martens foraging on this plant intermittently throughout the fall. In conclusion, martens adjusted the type and quantity of fruits they consumed in relation to the daily fruiting patterns of different plant species and the extent of overlap in the fruiting period across fruiting species.

Okinawa-jima Island is a part of the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan and some endemic animals occur. Many of the native animals are limited to the northern part of this island. Here, we examined the predation effect by domestic cats on native species in the northern part of the island. Route surveys were conducted from September 2017 to February 2018, and cats were captured from 2013 to 2018. In total 60 scats (36 by route surveys and 24 from seven captured cats) were collected. At least 16 animal species were found in domestic cats' scats. Traces of endemic Okinawa spiny rats (Tokudaia muenninki) were the most frequently found from scats collected by route surveys (61.1% in total; 71.4% in the core route, set around the distribution area of Okinawa spiny rats), followed by Ryukyu long-furred rats (Diplothrix legata) (16.7% in total; 21.4% in the core route). Our results showed that domestic cats might exert a significant predation pressure on native endemic vertebrates, especially on Okinawa spiny rats.

Ecological genetic analyses have recently been applied to the field of biological invasions to describe the genetic background of the invasive species. The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a medium-sized mammal that is native to North and Central America and has been naturalized into several countries worldwide. In the Boso Peninsula, Japan, raccoons were estimated to have been introduced during the 1990s. We collected DNA samples from 139 raccoons in seven administrative districts and sequenced a part of the mitochondrial D-loop region. We identified two haplotypes of the mitochondrial DNA, which differed by three single nucleotide polymorphisms; therefore, the raccoon population in Boso was founded by at least two females. Although the two haplotypes were identified in all districts, genetic differentiation analysis showed that the northern population was genetically different from the southern population. This genetic gap might not be affected by the landscape, but instead by the expansion history of raccoons. One of the probable hypotheses suggests that the expansion of raccoons may have occurred twice in Boso, a second expansion occurring after raccoons had already spread across Boso. Although this is consistent with historical distribution records, further studies using nuclear microsatellite markers are necessary to validate this hypothesis.

We investigated the population structure of the spotted seal, Phoca largha, around Hokkaido, Japan, inferred from sequence variations of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Twenty-six haplotypes were identified in 52 individuals, and 21 of them were newly found in the present study. To detect population structure, samples were divided into three groups—Mamiya, Okhotsk, and Habomai—based on breeding areas, and genetic difference among the groups was examined by exact test and estimation of Φ_ST and F_ST. The results of these analyses suggested that there were small but statistically significant genetic differences between the breeding areas.