Urban fauna of Zagreb Park Maksimir

Širenjem gradova uništavaju se prirodna staništa divljih životinja. Pojedine zelene površine ostaju netaknute i pretvaraju se u gradske parkove, a životinje koje ostaju u njima, okružene naseljima, prisiljene su na suživot s ljudima. Cilj ovog rada bio je odrediti koje se sve vrste životinja (sisavaca i ptica) nalaze u zagrebačkom parku Maksimir i kako je urbanizacija utjecala na njihovu dnevnu aktivnost. Istraživanje je provedeno pomoću senzornih kamera na šumskom fragmentu omeđenom ogradama i cestama. Identificirano je 4 vrste sisavaca i 9 vrsta ptica što je pokazalo snažan utjecaj barijera i ljudske prisutnosti na njihovu brojnost. Mali sisavci su se uspješno prilagodili životu u urbanoj sredini, dok veliki sisavci samo povremeno obitavaju u parku i nisu zabilježeni tijekom ovog istraživanja. Nedostak prirodnih predatora rezultirao je velikim brojem ptica zabilježenim prizemno pozicioniranim kamerama.Natural habitats of local wildlife are being destroyed due to expanding cities. Some of the green spaces stay intact and being turned into urban parks. Wild animals still inhabitating them are now surrounded by urban settlements and forced to coexist with people. The aim of this research was to determine species of wild animals (mammals and birds) which can be found in Zagreb park Maksimir and how did the urbanization impact their daily activities. The research was conducted on a small fragment of Maksimir forest enclosed by fences and roads by using camera traps. A total of four wild mammal species and nine bird species was indentified which showed a strong effect of the barriers and human presence. The small mammals have successfully adapted to life in the urban area, while the big mammals only temporary reside in the park and were not recorded in this research. The lack of natural enemies resulted in a large number of birds recorded by the camera traps set low to the ground