Intraguild predation of lynxes on foxes: evidence of interference competition?

There is a growing focus among ecologists on the importance of predatory in teractions between competing species, but because of its mixed character, i t is difficult to pinpoint the possible, competitive component of the inter action. We tested degree of prey consumption in intraguild predation of Eur asian lynxes on red foxes against assumed 'pure' predation, i.e. roe deer a nd mountain hares. The proportion of uneaten fox carcasses was highly signi ficantly larger than the proportion of both other prey species, indicating that interference competition may play a role in the intraguild predation o f lynxes on red foxes.