Even a hair casts its shadow: review and testing of noninvasive hair collecting methods of carnivore species

Studying carnivores requires sophisticated methods by wildlife biologists. Hair collecting is one among many useful noninvasive techniques. In this study, we have compiled a quantitative literature review, tested three hair collecting devices, tested the reliability of morphological identification, and determined the amount of mtDNA in different hair samples. Rub pads, as hair collecting devices worked well on carnivores like golden jackal (Canis aureus) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Modified box traps collected more samples than PVC tubes, and were generally better on small mustelids like ferret (Mustela putorius furo) and stone marten (Martes foina). We have found that some species like wolf (Canis lupus) and raccoon (Procyon lotor) are hard to identify, while others like brown bear (Ursus arctos) or badger (Meles meles) are rather easy to distinguish from other mammals based on guard hair morphology. The lateral and dorsal guard hairs proved to be the most valuable for identification, thus both of these regions of the body provide reliable samples. The applied hair collecting methods served enough hair samples from all eleven carnivores studied in this work for further mtDNA analysis. Amount of DNA did not show significant difference among species or body regions.