The craniometrical analysis of population diversity of the Balkan chamois (
Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) from Bulgaria was carried out using 14 skull parameters and 65 adult individuals, originating from the main occurrence areas in the country – Stara Planina, Rhodope, Rila and Pirin Mountains. The data showed a high degree of sexual dimorphism of the skull. The univariate and multivariate statistical assessment of the skull features of Bulgarian chamois, performed separately by gender, demonstrated a high degree of phenotypic craniological similarity between the specimens of the same gender from the four main populations in Bulgaria; it also supported the hypothesis that the present segregation of Bulgarian chamois into the four main mountains characterized by distinctive orographic features did not give rise to measurable levels of their craniometric differentiation.
Diet composition of the golden jackal (Canis aureus, L.) in Bulgaria, where the largest jackal population in Europe occurs, has been studied by scat analysis in a typical and newly occupied agricultural environment. The study was carried out during late summer and early autumn, a period when small mammal density is high. The food of the jackal typically consisted of small-sized and wild-living prey species. Rodents have been found to represent the primary food of the jackal (biomass estimation: 59.3 %, mainly Microtus spp.), and the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus, 20.1 %) and plants (19.7 %, mainly fruits) are secondary foods. Other prey, such as birds (mainly passerines), reptiles and invertebrates had been consumed in a low biomass ratio. No remains of wild ungulate and domestic animals have been detected in the studied scats.