ABSTRACT
Distribution patterns of large carnivores are strongly influenced environmental discon tinuity, human persecutions and other human activities. Their distribution can be regu lated by extrinsic factors such as : weather conditions, food vegetation and human disturbance in the landscape (Schamberger and O'Neil, 1 986; Yalden, 1 993) . Under standing why similar regions show different distribution patterns could also be explained by historical reasons of animal-human conflicts. Large-bodied predators , particularly the Grey Wolf, have been persecuted for animal damage control ( Fritts and Mech, 1 98 1 ) , due to their economic value - e .g . fur - and out of fear ( Boitani, 1 996). Moreover, the fact that in terrestrial systems, large carnivores are principally limited to a few species of mammals occurring in low density populations 1 makes this group more susceptible to human perturbation ( Yalden, 1 993) .
