January 25, 2021
According to the unique field monitoring of beasts throughout the Czech Republic, in 2020 there were at least partially twenty-two wolf territories in the Czech Republic. Nineteen of them in the border areas, some of them only slightly affected our republic. In fourteen cases, these were packs, which in our conditions usually number 4-6 individuals. Compared to 2019 [1], the number of territories increased by four, the number of packs by one.
The Friend of the Earth (Hnutí Duha Olomouc) , Mendel University in Brno, the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, the Šumava National Park Administration and the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic participated in monitoring and field research. The cross-border territories were consulted with the Polish association WILK, the OWAD project partners from Saxony and the Veterinary University of Vienna. Genetic analyses were performed by the Faculty of Science of Charles University, the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague and the CEwolf consortium.
The map is based on proven cases of wolf reproduction, documented by camera traps or genetic analysis, or on repeated credible findings of footprints and faeces, from which the presence of the territory could be confirmed. The map does not include data on random observations of individual wolves, the temporary occurrence of which cannot be ruled out in most of the Czech Republic due to the high mobility of the species. These data also need to be evaluated, but they are not relevant for determining the number of territories.
The data refer to the so-called wolf year 2019/2020, which covers the period from May 2019 to the end of April 2020, which corresponds better to the breeding cycle of wolves than the calendar year: wolves are usually born in April.
Wolvesmost often come to the Czech Republic from the north - from the Central European lowland population, whose center is in western Poland and Germany. However, at least one telemetrically marked wolf came to us from Austria, when it covered at least 430 km on the way to the Doupov Mountains [2]. So far, wolves from the Slovak and Polish Carpathians are spreading to Moravia and Silesia. More detailed information on individual packs is available at www.mapa.selmy.cz, details on the Czech-Saxon border can be found on the OWAD project website (owad.fzp.czu.cz/en).
Miroslav Kutal, an academic staff member at Mendel University in Brno and head of the Beast Program in the Friends of the Earth (Hnutí Duha Olomouc), comments on the situation: "Ten years ago, who would have bet that over 20 wolf territories would be present in the Czech Republic in 2020 and that these wolves would raise young 80 kilometers from Amsterdam for the second year in a row? The wolves have shown admirable adaptability to life in the cultural landscape of Central and Western Europe. Coexistence with wild beasts is still a challenge for reconciling the interests of nature conservation and agriculture."
Pavel Hulva, an academic staff member at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, responsible for genetic monitoring of the wolves, comments on the situation: "Genetic data have helped to reveal further encounters of previously isolated wolf populations in the Czech Republic, as well as the movement of wolves across borders with neighboring countries. Nevertheless, the genetic variability of this species is still lower in our country than, for example, in neighboring Slovakia. It is therefore important to maintain the permeability of the landscape, ensuring the influx of new genes. Last year, again, there was no case of hybridization with a dog. It is positive that, despite documented cases of mortality due to transport and poaching, wolves manage to find partners exclusively within their species.”
Aleš Vorel, an academic staff member at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, leader of the Czech-Saxon OWAD project, adds: "This year's results clearly confirm the trend in the settlement of the northern border mountains, where there is a clear influence of the population that arose on the border of Poland and Germany. The fact that Central Europe is a crossroads is also confirmed by several long-distance movements of wolves. A wolf appeared in the Ore Mountains, which was first caught near Hamburg, a young wolf from the Ore Mountains was hit by car near Nuremberg, etc. A very interesting record is also the movement of a young wolf from Upper Austria to the Doupov Mountains, where she probably founded a couple. Thanks to the fact that she passed Central Europe with a telemetry collar, she left behind a scientifically and conservatively significant trail - we know very well when, where exactly she went and what places she avoided. It also documents that wolves are able to move quickly and over long distances, even in our highly fragmented landscape.”
Comment:
[1] More information on wolf territories in the 2018/2019 season can be found in last year's press release (in Czech): https://www.selmy.cz/tiskove-zpravy/pocet-vlcich-smecek-se-za-rok-zvysil-do-ceska-zasahuje-osmnact-vlcich-teritorii/
[2] Details on the transfer of a telemetrically monitored wolf from Austria can be found here (in Czech): https://www.selmy.cz/clanky/vlcice-z-rakouska-presla-do-doupovskych-hor/
Contacts:
Miroslav Kutal, expert on large carnivores of the Friend of the Earth (Hnutí Duha Olomouc) and academic staff of the Institute of Forest Ecology of Mendel University in Brno, 728 832 889, miroslav.kutal@hnutiduha.cz
Pavel Hulva, molecular ecologist and academic staff of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, 608 676 877, hulva@natur.cuni.cz
Aleš Vorel, academic staff member of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Scinces in Prague and OWAD project leader, 605 281 401, vorel@fzp.czu.cz
