• The released wolves succeeded in foraging & killing prey such as ungulates & medium-sized wild mammals without prior specific training.

• Domestic animals were sporadically preyed as well, neither more nor less than may do some wild wolf populations.

• Vegetal matter was regularly consumed and was considered partly intentional as it may serve as vitamin/mineral source and purgative.

• Smaller animals (e.g. rodents) were mostly consumed as alternative prey.

• Released wolves acquired repertoire behaviour of the species such as foraging, travelling for finding food and territories, constructing typical beds, etc...

• Each method to analyze scats may undergo biases and has thus to be cautiously interpreted. But, simultaneous and pairwise comparisons demonstrated that differences among rankings for particular food items did not significantly influence the overall assessment of the diet. The relative importance of the main food types was revealed by all methods.

• We noticed differences between efficiency and operating duration of the collars, which resulted in an unequal data collection among wolves.

• Half of the wolves stayed in the surrounding release area for some weeks or months, occasionally leaving the vicinity.

• We still could estimate the travel routes and home ranges of two wolves. They both traveled 1.8 km per day but had different home ranges and traveled different distances which may probably depend on the individual wolf behaviour and on ecological conditions for finding food.

• The individual behaviour of the wolves (being boldest or shyest in threatening situations) may be due to genetic inclination and past environmental influences.

These findings will hopefully contribute in some extent to the development of new methods of preparing hand-reared wolves for successful reintroduction into the wild without creating conflicts with local human communities. The russian wolf population is probably not in need of additions from captive sources (indeed, wolf numbers remains stable), but elsewhere additions may useful to enhanced isolated populations in need of genetic influx (e.g. inbred populations, zoo populations).
Finally, if the method is proved to be reproducible for other canids, it could help other endangered canid species around the world.