Only in the capital municipality of our country there are more than 60,000 (sixty thousands) abandoned dogs. If they survived, it is highly assumable that the hunting dogs also survive (in nature, too - not to mention the localities...).

This is also what I can guess ...

I have seen small packs of hunting dogs well organised: scent hounds+sighthounds, for instance, beating the countryside in search of preys. Catch dogs are not rarely seen after huntings in Spain and I'm sure they can hunt themselves too.

The question is how hunting dogs contribute or not to the establishment of feral populations. There's a general opinion supporting that feral dogs survive mostly on rubbish or carcasses (see http://petsaspests.blogspot.com.es/search?q=dog+scavenging), but obviously they also prey on livestock, for instance (see for instance http://petsaspests.blogspot.com.es/search/label/predation%20on%20livestock).

Hi Jorge, in some parts of Mexico abandoned dogs have become a security problem for people, for some attacks. Even for protected areas managers, where dogs and cats affect wildlife. In some places large herds have been reported and unfortunately the number of stray dogs is increasing. It seems very important to pay attention to these animals, but I think there is not much information written about it. If I find some information about the'll do you arrive.

Jorge, you could discuss that dog problem with Cristian Bonacic from Santiago de Chile. He has been dealing with similar problems in southern Chile. See here: http://www.allchile.net/chileforum/topic10810-12.html

Greetings,

Mirco

Olá Mirco

Thanks so much. I'll try to contact Cristian. There's some information on the impact on huemul (http://petsaspests.blogspot.com/2013/05/dogs-threat-to-endangered-huemul.html) or on pudu (http://petsaspests.blogspot.com/2013/02/dogs-one-of-biggest-threats-to-pudu.html), and also about virus transfert to wild carnivores in Chile (http://petsaspests.blogspot.com/2013/01/urban-dogs-as-source-of-virus-for-wild.html).

For Brazil, there are also some papers on urban dogs and also on natural areas (http://petsaspests.blogspot.com.es/search?q=Brazil+dog).

The origin of most populaitons of dogs is, apparently, abandoned or escaped pets.

Hunting dogs are usualy valuable beasts and normally should be searched by their owners if lost. But it's sad to say that "bad hunting" dogs are frequently abandoned or culled by their owners or they have to survive on their own outside the hunting season.

Gracias María

I read something about stray dogs problem in Mexico, also as rabies vector. I found, for instance, this http://petsaspests.blogspot.com/2013/10/population-and-social-biology-of-free.html, but it's pretty old. I'll check if there's something more recent, but if you find something, it will be wellcome

Cheers

Thanks, Ehsan, I knew both of them. In fact, Vanak has a lot of research done in the topic (I compiled half a dozen or papers-http://petsaspests.blogspot.com.es/search?q=vanak- and he also wrote a chapter on the recent book Gompper, M.E. (Ed.) 2013. Free-Ranging Dogs and Wildlife Conservation. Oxford University Press. )

Regards

Hi Jorge, there is a new book on free-ranging dogs and wildlife conservation; see this link: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199663217.do

There might be some information in there for you.

Thanks Thomas. I knew about it, but didn't buy it. I had a look to the table of contents and to some extracts, it's interesting, for sure

Jorge,

Abandoned/lost hunting dogs becoming feral is a problem in Cyprus too, especially regarding the Cyprus mouflon Ovis orientalis ophion. These dogs are organised into packs and hunt mouflon like their African cousins... It is a serious mortality factor, accounting for aprox. 20% for all annual mortality for this species.

Hi Nikos

Sorry for the delay in the answer. I didn't check research gate recently. Do you have any paper or grey litterature supporting these data? In principle, authors asume that there are few truly feral dog populations, due to the fact that the domestication process has made difficult to adapt to a fully natural situation, independently of human subsidies. There's one clear exception of modern breeds becoming feral in Galápagos (http://goo.gl/xIjH5n); the best known example of old feral breed would be dingo (http://goo.gl/Nf4hlT). It's possible that Cyprus dogs are somehow dependent of subsidies and, also, to reinforcement from abandoned or lost dogs. In any case, their impact on biodiversity would be notable.

In any case, I will acknowledge any contribution on feral dogs in Cyprus.