Moreover, the conventional methods used for detecting the presence of grey wolves and estimating their number and population dynamics can be very time-consuming and costly. However, the monitoring of wolves is still challenging in the field because it is a wide-ranging habitat generalist, which lives at low densities and is often secretive and elusive.

Thus, understanding and monitoring the expansion of the grey wolfвЂ™s range is important for preventing or mitigating conflicts as well as for conservation and management purposes.

However, conflicts emerge with humans where their ranges overlap with human settlement and agriculture mainly due to the predation on livestock. As a consequence, wolves have been recolonizing their former areas in recent decades. In Europe, the species is now legally protected by the Bern Convention (1979) and the Habitats Directive (1992). These main features of passive acoustics suggest that this interesting approach could be employed for monitoring elusive species that require conservation or management plans, such as the grey wolf ( Canis lupus).Дuring the two last centuries, the grey wolf was extirpated in many areas throughout Europe and North America. Passive acoustics may also help to reduce the time and human resources required in the field. direct capture or the intrusive presence of observers in the field). They are not technically limited to a time period, non-invasive and so, avoid interference with animal behavior in contrast to other monitoring methods (e.g. These protocols are focused on species detection, density estimation, territory use, and localization. dangerous access, thick vegetation or limited visibility).

The current protocols based on passive acoustics methods allow the study of elusive and/or nocturnal species that live in harsh environments (e.g. Passive acoustic monitoring is being used increasingly to study species that produce sounds in their natural environments (e.g. Finally, linear mixed-effects models were used to identify the factors that influenced the localization accuracy. Then, localization estimates and the accuracy were calculated. This sound was broadcast at several sites. For scientific and social reasons, the experiments were based on a synthetic sound with similar acoustic properties to howls. In the present study, we conducted field experiments to investigate the possibility of using a low-density microphone array to localize wolves at a large scale in two contrasting natural environments in north-eastern France.

Currently, new acoustic recording tools are contributing to the development of passive acoustic methods as alternative approaches for detecting, monitoring, or identifying species that produce sounds in nature, such as the grey wolf. Moreover, methods used for collecting signs of presence are usually time-consuming and/or costly. However, this elusive carnivore can disperse over long distances in various natural contexts, making its monitoring difficult. The management of this protected species is often controversial and its monitoring is a challenge for conservation purposes. The grey wolf ( Canis lupus) is naturally recolonizing its former habitats in Europe where it was extirpated during the previous two centuries.

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