Press release of AOPK ČR, partner in the OWAD project
Wolf shot dead near Mělník, criminal complaint submitted
May 6, 2019 - The Wolf, who was found dead on 9 April in a ditch near Konětopy in the Mělník district, was shot. This is the first documented case of illegal killing of a wolf in the Czech Republic. Therefore, the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic submits a criminal complaint against an unknown offender [1]. The cause of death was determined during an autopsy carried out by experts from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Brno. At the site, no traces of blood could be detected, so it can be assumed that the wolf was shot elsewhere and then thrown into the ditch. "There are only a few dozen wolves in the Czech Republic and the fact that someone shoots such rare animals is extremely shameful. Unfortunately, it is not a novelty that predators and birds of prey in our country fall victim to poaching - in the Beskydy last year, a shot lynx was found, on the highlands (Vysočina) several eagles were poisoned and the list could continue. I hope the police will detect the culprit this time, he faces imprisonment of up to three years. I am convinced that if the case is cleared up, this will be a warning and many animals will be spared death by illegal shooting. Even without poaching, animals in our busy country do not have it easy, "explains František Pelc, director of AOPK. The anonymous finder informed the mayor of the village of Čečelice about the dead wolf thrown into this ditch near the road between Konětopy and Sudovo Hlavno. At his request, the animal was accepted by a doctoral student of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, who is also a member of the Hunting Association Čečelice - Konětopy, who then gave the wolf to the experts for large predators of the CZU [2] and AOPK ČR. "So far we have no definitive results on genetics, so we do not know if the dead wolf comes from the nearest wolf territories, protected landscape area Kokořínsko - Máchův kraj. Since it is a young animal, it is definitely a noticeable loss to our nature. According to our knowledge, in the last three years only one wolf was killed by humans in a car accident and now by gunshot ", says Ladislav Pořízek from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Director of the PLA Regional Office Kokořínsko - Máchův kraj. "The example of Denmark shows us that it is possible to capture the illegal offender. Last year, a hunter was convicted of killing one of the first native wolves. The police could convict him for forensic evidence [3], "says Aleš Vorel from Faculty of Environmental Sciences, CZU, which deals with wolves. "We know that the presence of large predators, for example in livestock owners, can cause displeasure. Therefore, the state pays for any damage and it is possible to apply for funding for herd protection. The experiences from our neighbour Germany show that grazing animals can live next to wild animals. Wolves play an important role in our natural environment - they reduce the number of wild boar, red deer and roe-deer, which can cause great damage to forests and fields. According to recent studies, wild animals account for 98% of wolf food, pets up to 2%, "says František Pelc. Details about wolves, herd protection and damage compensation can be found at www.navratvlku.cz.
Remarks:
[1] The deliberate killing of an endangered species in violation of Section 50 (2) of the Nature and Landscape Protection Act is a criminal offense within the meaning of Section 299 (2) of Act No. 40/2009 Coll., as amended.
[2] The CZU is the coordinator of the Project " Objective Wolves Acceptance in human-altered cross boundary lanDscapes (OWAD)", funded by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund under the Cross-Border Cooperation Program between the Czech Republic and Free State of Saxony 2014 - 2020. Beside the researches form the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the CZU the project partners on the Czech side are the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic (MZP) and the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (AOPK), which plays a key role in public relations – manages the website www.navratvlku.cz, where are up-to-date information about wolves, herd protection measures and damage compensation. The project partner on the German side is the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, represented by the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz (SMNG).
[3] https://www.unilad.co.uk/animals/hunter-shoots-dead-one-of-only-wild-wolves-in-denmark/ Contact: Karolína Šůlová, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, e-mail: karolina.sulova@nature.cz, tel: +420 724 102 406