rsg_book_2013

MammalsImplementation: Aboldness score wascalculated for 34 captivebredSWF using tworepeats of a four x novelobjecttest prior to release.A boldness score wascalculated for 11 captiveCCIF using a reduced testof a two x novel-objecttest. Three measures ofboldness were calculatedfor free-living SJKF: ahandling boldness scoreassessed during trappingand handling (T/H); anFox trapping in Lokernextended novel object test(ENOT: two x novel object(1 novel food and 1 novel threat) + two x baseline assessing pups) and a rapidnovel object test (RNOT: 1 x novel-object test assessing juveniles and adults).Post-release monitoring: Thirty-one SWF were released onto the BlackfeetIndian Tribal Reservation in Montana, USA; 16 were radio-collared. Foxes weremonitored intensively for 6 weeks, weekly/fox for the following 4.5 months, andagain intensively for a 2-week period 6 months post-release to determine survival.Nine radio-collared CCIF were released in the final year of a four-year reintroductionprogram on Catalina Island. Post-release monitoring was conductedtwice-weekly/fox. For SJKF the T/H test assessed 87 urban:67 rural. The ENOTassessed 24 urban:9 rural, with 21:1 radio-collared. The RNOT assessed 27urban:27 rural, all radio-collared. Post release monitoring for 1 year postboldnesstesting aimed to locate each SJKF a minimum of once per week,recording survival, dispersal data, and reproductive data. The relationshipbetween the variables listed and boldness was assessed for each fox species.In a habitat with predators it was determined that SWF that died (n = 5) werethose with higher levels of boldness (t 14 = 2.942, P < 0.01). Boldness scores werepositively correlated with the total distance moved from release site (r 14 = 0.588,p