Karacabey Karadağı-Ovakorusu Wildlife Reserve Area's large mammals species and habitat uses

In recent years, terrestrial mammals have been in severe danger because their habitats have deteriorated for various reasons such as increased human pressure, habitat loss, division and fragmentation. Although the species most affected by this are the large mammals, which were chosen for this study, there are very few studies related to this area in our country. This study was conducted to identify large mammal species and determine their land use in Bursa Karacabey Karadag-Ovakorusu Wildlife Reserve Area (WRA), which is home to numerous ecosystems and was classified as a WDA in 2005.Within the scope of this thesis, camera trap stations were installed at 80 different locations and a total of 2692 camera trap days were acquired. As a result of the study, Wild boar (Sus scrafa), Golden jackal (Canis aureus), Wild cat (Felis silvestris), Marten (Martes foina), European badger (Meles meles), Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and Wild rabbit (Lepus europaeus) were discovered in the area. The existence of ten species of large mammals, including the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), the otter (Lutra lutra), and the Jungle cat (Felis chaus), has been confirmed. The location information of these species, as detected by camera traps, was processed on the digital map, and distribution and density maps were generated based on habitat types and altitude classes. With the camera traps placed in the area, 2,675 wild animals were recorded. The species with the most detections in the WRA is the Wild boar, with 1151 records. This is followed by Golden jackal with 1.065 records and Wild cat with 95 records. Moreover, Roe deer, Otter and Jungle cat are determined as the least photographed species. Mixed deciduous forest and floodplain ecosystems are determined as the most frequently used habitats by the mammals detected in the area. Some of the main problems of the area can be listed as; disconnection between the research area and other habitats, and high amount of human pressure.