rWILD-COA

Ecological challenges and opportunities of trophic rewilding in Côa Valley

Research Pathway: Wildlife Ecology and Management

COA/BRB/0063/2019 «Projetos de Investigação Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico», Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Period: 2020-2023.

Female and fawn roe deer shoot by our camera traps set in the Greater Côa Valley.

Since June 2019, we started the roe deer survey in the Greater Côa Valley, Portugal. The information collected by our camera trap network will provide information to decide further management actions such as the habitat modification to improve connectivity or the need of reintroductions.

A considerable sampling effort…

“Our survey covers more than 5,000 square kilometers. Camera trapping and pellet group counts are used to determine the fine-scale distribution of roe deer, to assess roe deer occupancy and activity, and to estimate prey density for Iberian wolves”

Pellet collection is also important to assess diet composition during our rewilding process.