DNA metabarcoding reveals wolf dietary patterns in the northern Alps and Jura mountains

Understanding predator-prey interactions is crucial for wildlife management and human-wildlife coexistence, particularly in multi-use landscapes such as Western Europe. As wolves (Canis lupus) recolonize their former habitats, knowledge of their diet is essential for conservation planning and public acceptance. However, data from such regions is so far scarce, in particular for the Alpine region and the Jura Mountains.  As opportunistic hunters, wolves adapt their diet to the local prey structure, suggesting that abundant wild ungulates are the main prey source. We also expect diet composition to be influenced by region, season, and social status. DNA metabarcoding has emerged as a powerful tool in ecological research, offering high-resolution insights into dietary composition, yet its application in carnivores remains limited. Using a DNA metabarcoding approach, we analyzed 698 wolf scat samples collected in Switzerland from 2017 to 2024. We found red deer (Cervus elaphus) was the..., Scat collection and sampling context

Scat samples were collected opportunistically across Switzerland as part of the national wolf monitoring by trained authorities (Marucco et al. 2023), and had already been genetically assigned to specific wolf individuals by STR (microsatellite) genotyping (Dufresnes et al. 2019). Our analysis is based on 698 samples collected between 02.01.2017 and 07.04.2024 from different regions and seasons. These samples belong to 250 genetically identified wolves (males = 155, females = 93, unknown = 2, pack = 181, non-pack = 69). As the scat samples were not collected systematically or randomly, we have taken into account the context in which they were found (i.e., at a livestock kill, a carcass of a wild prey, or independently of a carcass). We compared the proportions of livestock and natural prey species between the three contexts with Pearson’s Chi-squared test (Pearson 1900). We also tested whether the inclusion of samples found next to carcasses changed..., # DNA metabarcoding reveals wolf dietary patterns in the northern Alps and Jura mountains

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.1vhhmgr6n](10.5061/dryad.1vhhmgr6n)

## Description of the data and file structure

This Wolf_diet_2025.txt file was generated on 2025-07-09 by Florin Kunz and Eduard Mas-Carrió

 GENERAL INFORMATION

1\. Title of Dataset: Data from: DNA Metabarcoding reveals wolf dietary patterns in the northern Alps and Jura mountains

2\. Author Information

Florin Kunz1,2, Eduard Mas‐Carrió3, Philippine Surer1,2, Fridolin Zimmermann1,2, Philippe Christe1, Luca Fumagalli3,4 & Nina Gerber2

1 Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland\
2 Foundation KORA - Carnivore Ecology and Wildlife Management, Ittigen BE, Berne, Switzerland\
3 Laboratory for Conservation Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland\
4 Swiss Human Institute of Forensic Taphonomy, University Centre of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Genev...,