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Fate of translocated wild-caught and captive-reared stone martens (Martes foina)

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An Erratum to this article was published on 24 January 2008

Abstract

We radio-tracked one urban wild-caught and four orphaned captive-reared stone martens (Martes foina) after translocation to novel habitats. The wild-caught marten rapidly returned to urban habitat but died 7 days after release. The captive-reared martens survived >130 days after release. An initial period of extensive movements was followed by decreased activity. Captive-reared martens apparently adapted well to living in the wild. However, we recommend that exclusion of martens from den sites should be used to avoid having to resort to the capture and translocation of problem martens.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Kim Lux. We thank L. Reiners, P. Muller and K. Lux (LNVL-Centre de Soins pour la Faune Sauvage), E. Engel (Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle) and A. Krier and J. Sunnen (Direction des Eaux et Forêts) for their cooperation. J.H. was supported by a Bourse de Formation-Recherche (BFR05/042) from the Ministère de la Culture, de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, Luxembourg. B. Ludwig and two anonymous reviewers gave useful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. The experiments complied with the current Luxembourg law.

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Correspondence to Jan Herr.

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Communicated by W. Lutz

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10344-007-0167-2.

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Herr, J., Schley, L. & Roper, T.J. Fate of translocated wild-caught and captive-reared stone martens (Martes foina). Eur J Wildl Res 54, 511–514 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-007-0158-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-007-0158-3

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