Menu of vlk Gagat in the Czech Republic
Menu of vlk Gagat in the Czech Republic
Two months ago, Gagat reached the Ždiar Mountains in central Bohemia and apparently decided to stay there for longer.
Our Czech colleagues from Hnutí DUHA Šelma, which monitors wolves, have already checked Gagat’s location several times. The snow cover also made it possible to track our Polish-Czech wolf, or rather vlk.
It turned out that Gagat is still alone. Despite this, it successfully hunts deer. Trackers from Hnutí DUHA found the remains of 6 roe deer, which Gagat ate and probably hunted. In the Świętokrzyska Forest, Gagat also most often hunted roe deer.
Thanks to Hnutí DUHA Šelmy and Miroslav Kutal, Milan Štaubert, Barbora Gajdárová, Michal Daněk, Petr Mückstein, Jan Kuchynka, Václav Hlaváč.
*Gagat is a young wolf in the process of dispersion (migration) looking for a wife and a place to set up a home. He wears a GPS collar that allows us to track his steps.
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The Gagat’s collar was funded on the initiative of the Suchedniów Forest Inspectorate and the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Radom by the following forest districts: Barycz, Daleszyce, Kielce, Skarżysko, Starachowice, Stąporków and Suchedniów.
Photo: Petr Mückstein
Author: Roman Gula
About wolves in Mircze
About wolves in Mircze
During the first meeting, to which local schools were invited, we tried to familiarize students with the world of the wolves and answer any questions they were interested in. There was also a demonstration of howling and other techniques used by us while monitoring wolves.
At the second meeting, which was also attended by employees of the Mircze Forest Inspectorate, we focused a bit more on issues related to our research and the story of Geralt, a wolf wearing our GPS collar, who disappeared shortly after arriving in the nearby forests . We hope that thanks to the support of local residents and foresters, we will be able to solve the mystery of his disappearance!
We would like to thank Gminny Ośrodek Kultury (the Municipal Cultural Center) in Mircze for organizing meetings and providing the room.
Polish-Czech wolf. Collaboration with Hnutí DUHA Šelmy
Polish-Czech wolf. Collaboration with Hnutí DUHA Šelmy
Cooperation with a Czech organization dealing with the protection of large predators.
At the end of 2022, our wolf Gagat from Świętokrzyskie moved to the Czech Republic. He set off on a long journey in search of a partner and a place where he could set up a home.
Almost from the beginning of his stay with our western neighbors, we have been cooperating with the Czech organization Hnutí DUHA Šelmy, which focuses on the protection of large predators. Since 1995, when wolves began to return to the Czech Carpathians, Hnuti DUHA has been monitoring these animals and leading a project to counteract poaching through the so-called “Wolf patrols”. Every year, new groups of volunteers are trained to patrol forests, collect information about the presence of predators, install photo-traps or collect samples for laboratory tests. Patrols discourage poachers and at the same time enable the collection of a large amount of data on the population of wolves, lynxes, bears and wildcats living there.
Since Gagat joined the group of Czech wolves, his steps are also monitored by Hnuti DUHA volunteers. They check the locations sent by Gagat’s collar and note the findings discovered in them, in the form of, for example, prey. And when a fairly thick layer of snow falls, they follow Gagat’s trail to find out what the wolf has been up to and whether he has already found a bride. Thanks to our Czech friends, we have learned many details from Gagat’s life and we know how he is doing far from home. Thank you!
Photo: Petr Mückstein
Author: Joanna Toczydlowska
Meeting about wolves in CKI Michniów
Meeting about wolves in CKI Michniów
On February 24, we visited Centrum Kształceniowo – Integracyjne (the Education and Integration Center) in Michniów.
The meeting was led by dr hab. Roman Gula, head of our wolf monitoring and protection project. The attendance was good and about 30 listeners showed up, filling the small CKI hall to the brim.
The meeting began with the presentation of wolf families living in this region of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in particular the packs from the center of the Świętokrzyska Forest, which we monitor more intensively thanks to telemetric collars. There were interesting facts about wolf life and information about methods of studying these predators.
The second part of the meeting focused on the safety of humans and wolves. There were answers to the questions of how to behave in the event of meeting a wolf, how to protect your farm and animals, and generally how to live in harmony with the wolf “behind the fence”.
Thank you for the invitation and the perfect organization of the meeting.
Photos: Mateusz Bolechowski
A hit wolf near the Świętokrzyski National Park
A hit wolf near the Świętokrzyski National Park
On February 21, employees of the Świętokrzyski National Park informed us about finding a wolf hit by a car on road 752 between Podgórze and Święta Katarzyna.
We quickly informed our cooperating veterinarian Marcin Mandziak about the incident, and he immediately went to the place.
After putting the still conscious wolf to sleep, Marcin took the wolf to veterinarian Augustyn Blicharz’s office in Starachowice for examination. It turned out that the wolf, a two-year-old male, suffered extensive injuries to internal organs, had a broken leg and lumbar spine. After consultations, it was decided that the animal should be euthanized.
Wolves are regularly observed in the eastern part of the ŚNP. Among others, one of our collared wolves – Geralt – stayed there for several weeks. Unfortunately, road 752, which divides the Park into two parts, is quite busy and on its section running through the forest, collisions with animals often occur.
Need for a wildlife crossing?
It seems that in the future a crossing for animals should be built on the section between Przewóz and Święta Katarzyna, which runs through the ŚNP. This would not only avoid collisions with animals, but would ensure the biological continuity of the population of large mammals inhabiting the eastern (Łysogóry) and western (Klonowskie Range) part of the ŚNP.
We would like to thank the Emwet Marcin Mandziak Veterinary Clinic and the Augustyn Blicharz Cztery Łapy Veterinary Clinic for quick, joint intervention and reducing the wolf’s suffering.
Photos: Świętokrzyski National Park
Text author: Roman Gula
Donate 1,5% to the wolves!
Donate 1,5% to the wolves!
Don’t forget about us by filling in your PIT – donate 1.5% of your tax to protect wolves and the natural environment. We can do more thanks to you!
Donate your 1.5% to wolves. Thanks to your support, we will be able to better protect the wolves and their home – the forest.
Our National Court Register (KRS): 0000399896
Thanks to you we will:
– Include more wolves in our monitoring program
– Monitor new areas of forests and protect them better against poachers
– Carry out further research projects important for nature
– Conduct more educational meetings about wolves and environmental protection.
Help us better protect Polish nature!
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You can also help us by:
– Buying a collar for the wolf (and choosing a name for the wolf!): https://zrzutka.pl/h24tf2
– Buying a photo-trap (as a thank you, we will send you the first video recorded): https://zrzutka.pl/pb4gpm
– Shopping via https://fanimani.pl/save/ (2.5% of the value of your purchases will go to us!)
– Donation for a selected purpose: https://fundacja-save.pl/en/darowizna/one-time-donation/
– Providing the materials necessary for our daily work, e.g. field clothes, electronic equipment, etc.
SAVE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FUND:
We have been operating since 2011. We focus on protecting wolves and minimizing human-animal conflicts. Our activities include research projects carried out jointly at the Polish Academy of Sciences and environmental education for children and adults.
*The picture shows Gagat, one of the wolves we monitor.
Wolves from Bartek's family - Czerwony Most
Wolves from Bartek's family - Czerwony Most
The wolves of Bartek’s family – will a reserve be created around them?
In the video you can see wolves from the family of the wolf Bartek that we monitor. It is them and the valuable natural area around them that we want to protect as part of the proposed new Czerwony Most (Red Bridge) Reserve in the Przysucha Forest District.
And soon the wolf family may grow, as numerous signs of calving have been observed in the snow, along the passage route of 2-3 wolves!
We publish the footage courtesy of the Stowarzyszenie Przyrodników Ostoja (Ostoja Association of Naturalists) – thank you for the materials and information provided.
About wolves on "Wolf expedition" in Bieszczady Mountains
About wolves on "Wolf expedition" in Bieszczady Mountains
Meeting for students in the Bieszczady Mountains
On February 13 we visited the Bieszczady Mountains to tell the participants of the “Wolf expedition” organized by SGGW and the State Forests about wolves and methods of monitoring.
The lecture titled “What a student should know about wolves” was given by the head of our wolf project, Dr. Roman Gula. The participants, who were mainly students of the SGGW Forestry Department, had the opportunity to hear about the ecology of wolves and learn about the methods used in research on them.
Thank you for the invitation!
Where is Geralt?
Where is Geralt?
Unfortunately, we don’t have good news. Wolf Geralt is missing, his GPS collar has stopped transmitting data.
We’re concerned that the recently intensified campaign against wolves and articles about them published in the media, full of hypocrisy, may have begun to take their toll.
The latest data sent by Geralt came from the Mircze Forest District, located near Poland’s eastern border. A few days ago, we received a video from that area showing a wolf possibly wearing a collar. Is it Geralt?
Today we are starting a search in the area, including with the help of a telemetry antenna. Keep your fingers crossed that Geralt is found safe and sound!
If anyone has any information about the wolf seen in the Tomaszów Lubelski – Zamość – Mircze – Hrebenne area, especially if he was wearing a collar, or knows what happened to Geralt – please contact us.
Author: Joanna
Trip - three-legged wolf
Trip - three-legged wolf
The further fate of the three-legged wolf – how is he doing?
Some time ago we wrote about a wolf without a left hind paw, registered on a trail-camera in the Niekłańskie Forests, on the border of the Przysucha and Stąporków forest districts. We managed to film it again.
Looks like Trip is doing quite well! In daylight, you can clearly see that he has managed to grow a beautiful winter coat. He does not look emaciated, and he moves so efficiently that at first glance it is difficult to notice that he is missing a foot.
Trip belongs to the family of Bartek, a wolf who founded this family 2,5 years ago. He probably lost his foot as a result of being shot or falling into a snare or a poaching trap. Let’s hope that in the future Trip and his family will have better luck and will not suffer any more from the actions of poachers.
Author: Roman Gula