CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES

WILDLIFE

The activities to conserve endangered wildlife species as well as native rare breeds

have been undertaken in Poland for over a century. The best examples in wildlife area

are provided by the conservation programme to restore the European bison population,

and a programme to re-establish Polish Koniks to their natural habitats in the wild. In

the livestock sector, although a number of breeds have become extinct in the 1960s

and 1970s, restitution programmes undertaken since the mid 1970s reduced erosion of

populations and resulted in the restoration of a number of native breeds.

The efforts to conserve endangered native breeds in Poland can be divided into three

main phases. The first one covers a period from initiation of conservation activities undertaken

mainly by the scientific community with gradual support provided by the government

until the official establishment of the National Focal Point for Animal Genetic

Resources (NFP-AnGR) in August 1996. In the second phase, conservation activities

became coordinated at the national level; this phase continues till 2004, when Poland

became a member of the European Community. The last and current phase is marked

by the implementation of European Union rural development policy and agrienvironmental

measures at the national level.

WOLVES

There are between 600-700 wolves in Poland, mainly in the eastern and southern parts of the country, with a small but growing population in the west. These wolves prey mainly on red deer, roe deer and wild boar. The wolf has been protected in Poland since 1998, but many packs live on the borders with Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia, where hunting is still permitted. Other threats to wolves in Poland include habitat fragmentation and disruption of ecological corridors along which wolves disperse, due to building of new roads and expansion of towns and new development in tourist areas; disturbance by forestry activities, recreation and development; conflict with livestock farming (1-3% of wolf diet in Poland comprises domestic animals, mainly sheep); and human-caused mortality such as illegal killing and collisions with vehicles. Poland’s wolves are at the western-most edge of a large, continuous eastern European wolf population, which has retained its high genetic diversity, and are therefore an important source of dispersing individuals to other central and western European countries, including Germany.

What are they doing?

Wolves and Humans has worked with Polish organisation Association for Nature “WOLF” since 1998, supporting their study of wolves in the Beskidy Mountains of southern Poland, part of the Carpathian Mountain range, and now in the Lower Silesian Forest, in western Poland. Wolf numbers are monitored by carrying out field surveys for signs of wolf presence such as tracks, scats, den sites and sightings, and interviewing local foresters and hunters. Camera traps and howling surveys are also used. Samples of scat and hair are collected for genetic analysis to determine relatedness between packs in different part of Poland and assess whether these are isolated or interconnected. This research is then used to identify conservation needs and implement measures to protect wolves and other wildlife.

As well as research, the Association also provides training to farmers in methods of preventing livestock losses to wolves, including fladry, electric fencing and the native Tatra Mountain Shepherd livestock guarding dog. Equipment and dogs are provided and full training is given to owners and shepherds. Monitoring is also carried out to study the effectiveness of these methods in different situations. Several publications about protection of livestock have been produced.

The Association also regularly give lectures and talks for schoolchildren, students and local communities on the role of predators in forest ecosystems, and run wolf workshops and seminars for foresters, hunters, livestock owners, nature protection officials from Poland, the Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, as well as for students and naturalists from all over the world. Specialist workshops are held for staff of Nature Protection Departments, foresters, hunters and veterinarians from areas with wolves, including training in identification methods and determining causes of damages to livestock.