Daily movements of wisents released to the wild in the Bieszczady Mountains

Abstract

We measured the distances covered daily by 7 adult wisents (5M, 2F), released to the wild at Bieszczady Mountains. Those individuals were fitted with GPS collars, and their locations were recorded every hour between 27.01.2015 and 02.03.2017. Average distances of their daily movements ranged between about 1200 up to almost 1650m. The maximal recorded length of a daily covered distance was about 10 km. In winter, average spans of movements within 24 hrs were almost identical for cows and bulls, while, distances covered by cows in summer were greater by about 30%. In both seasons, movements of both bulls and cows within open areas were by about 40% shorter than those in the forest. On average, the greatest distances moved were recorded in the vegetative season for bulls within the forest (almost 2400m). However, comparing both sexes, cows moved for greater distances within open areas while bulls moved further in the forest. Generally, bulls moved at higher elevations than did females.