Education on wolves in the Vanity Style company

Educational meeting about wolves in the VanityStyle company

Educational meeting in the VanityStyle company

Last Tuesday on 12th of Otober, Roman Gula and Artur Milanowski from the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund team held an educational meeting with employees of the VanityStyle company in Warsaw. During the lesson, they talked about ecology and biology of wolves; they explained the telemetric monitoring and presented to the participants a collar and a simulation of howling.

The meeting was organized as part of the cooperation with VanityStyle, thanks to which we will soon be able to purchase next telemetric collar and thus increase the number of monitored wolves.

Educational activities on wolves are one of the main pillars of our monitoring program in Swietokrzyskie region. We believe that this will help us achieve a better acceptance of these fascinating animals in our society.

Magda Strzała


Zespół Fundacji SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund

Meeting of the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund team

12. October 2021In Wolf protection, SAVE, Poland

Meeting of the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund team

Last Saturday, October 2nd, there was a meeting for those who are involved in the wolf monitoring project in the Świętokrzyskie region. Volunteers from different parts of Poland gathered in a small town near Skarżysko-Kamienna to discuss issues related to wolf conservation and, perhaps most importantly, to finally get to know each other personally. Among the newcomers there were experienced trackers as well as “fresh blood” who were just learning how to recognize wolf tracks and simulate the continuous howling of the inhabitants of wilderness. We all share the same passion for nature and long walks in the woods in search of wolf tracks, so there were plenty of forest stories and anecdotes from the tracks.

At 17:00, we established a remote connection with members of the wolf team who could not make it to the reunion in person, as well as with representatives of the SAVE Fund.

At 7:00 p.m., as dusk fell, we began a trip into the forest in search of wolves. During the expedition, the participants had the opportunity to try simulating the wolf’s howl and then listen to the predators’ responses. Fortunately, a few wolf groups responded very quickly, and

upon hearing the sounds made by humans, they almost immediately reacted with a long, choral howl, accompanied by the barks and squeaks of several pups. In order not to disturb the forest inhabitants for too long, after a few minutes the members of the trip set off back to the base, taking with them a valuable find encountered on the way – wolf excrement. Packed in a plastic bag, the droppings were placed in the freezer, where they will wait to be analyzed to learn more about the components of a wolf’s diet.

After returning from the forest, with a warm tea, the participants shared their impressions from the night expedition, planned the activities for the nearest time and when the midnight started to approach, they officially ended the meeting and went to their homes.

Joanna Toczydłowska


Monika Wołczecka, wilczy spacer

Wolf workshop in the Izerskie Mountains, WILKnet

4. October 2021In Wolf workshop, Poland

Wolf workshop in the Izerskie Mountains

On September 25th, a field workshop was held in the area of the Izerskie Mountains Peatlands, where participants had the opportunity to learn about the biology and ecology of wolves. The workshop also introduced the research methods used to prepare a plan of protection for Natura 2000 area.

Monika Wołczecka, who conducted the classes, talked about, among others:
– How to recognize tracks left by wolves?
– Why in case of wolves, we talk about family packs?
– Do wolves howl to the moon?
– How to behave when encountering a wolf on the trail?

In response to the number of requests for more workshops – the next wolf walk will be held on November 20th. More information can be found on the Facebook event.

The workshop will be led by Monika Wołczecka – a graduate of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, who co-created the plan of protection for the Natura 2000 site Izerskie Mountains Peatlands.

Monika Wołczecka


Czaszka wilka

The she-wolf from Daleszyce was shot

21. September 2021In Wolf protection, Poland

The she-wolf from Daleszyce was shot

In our note of 29th January, we wrote about a dead she-wolf found with a steel cable around her neck in the Daleszyce Forest District.

The SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund team assisted both the police and the Regional Directorate of the Environment Protection in establishing the course of events. After the skull was dissected, we found out that the wolf was shot with a small shot (no. 2) into the facial part of the skull. The shot was fired from about 20 m, and 19 pellets were lodged in the bones of the skull. The rope marks on the neck, the abrasions on the forelegs and the starvation indicate that the wolf was first caught in the snare and then shot, which directly contributed to or accelerated its death.

This is yet another case of a wolf shot with a firearm in Poland, indicating a lack of enforcement of wolf protection laws in our country. The state has virtually no means of controlling hunters in the field, which leaves hunters who commit crimes unpunished. You can read about the ineffectiveness of the wolf protection system in the essay “Can we protect wolves?”.

Roman Gula

Wolf skull

wilki michniowiec, foto pułapka

Wolf attacks in Podkarpacie

Attacks on domestic and farm animals in Podkarpacie

Every year, we publish data on damage caused by wolves to livestock and farm animals in Podkarpacie, the region with the highest intensity of damage in Poland. In the first half of 2021, there were 48 wolf attacks on livestock and domestic animals in Podkarpacie. This is 2% more than in the first six months of 2020 and 11.1% less than in 2019 when wolves attacked 47 and 54 times, respectively. The species most frequently attacked were sheep – 16 times, cattle – 3 times, horses – 5 times and farmed deer and fallow deer – 10 times. In addition, wolves attacked dogs. There were 46 reports of dogs being killed or attempted to be killed by wolves, but only in 14 cases, it was possible to find remains or other traces confirming a wolf attack.

Hubert Fedyń, RDOŚ w Rzeszowie


Wilk w foto pułapce

How many wolves are left in Bartek and Scyzor's family?

9. September 2021In Wolf protection, Poland

How many wolves are left in Bartek and Scyzor's family?  

Bartek and Scyzor, the wolves we caught over the past year, come from a wolf family in the Swietokrzyskie Forest. Bartek left his family in January and is currently raising four pups in the Nieklańskie Forest. Scyzor has wandered much further – he is now in the Silesian Voivodeship, near Czestochowa.   

The family from Puszcza Swietokrzyska also has 3 or 4 pups – we wrote about it in our note of 23 July. How many adult wolves are left in the Swietokrzyska Forest? In winter, after Bartek left his family, there were 8 wolves. After Scyzor left, there should be 7.   

In the last weeks, we managed to record wolves from this family several times. There were up to four adults together. Interestingly, one of the adult wolves was carrying a piece of meat in its mouth for the growing pups – you can see this at 1 min 37 sec of the video. This is one of the ways wolves deliver food to their offspring. Kasia Bojarska wrote about transporting food in the stomach (“Wolf dinner with home delivery”) – she managed to record the moment of vomiting food for pups.  

Soon, young wolves will run together with the adults and will feed on the spot where the prey was killed; their tracks and appearance will become difficult to distinguish from adult wolves. 

Roman Gula 


Wilk Scyzor

Scyzor is on the move

11. August 2021In Wolf protection, Wolf Scyzor, Poland

Scyzor is on the move

Scyzor, a young male wolf caught in May this year, was moving around within his home territory in Swietokrzyska Forest in the first month. His locations showed us the breeding site of a wolf family from the Forest, and because of that, we were able to photograph the pups of this family (note from 10th June 2021).

At the end of June, Scyzor set out on a journey. He headed southwest and reached the Koloman Hills. He stayed there for about two weeks, after which he continued in the same direction and entered the Silesian Province area.

For four weeks, he has been in one of the forest complexes of this region, and it seems that his further journey was blocked by road no. 1, the so-called Gierkówka. This is a busy road with 4 lanes, built in the seventies. Unfortunately, there are no crossings for animals.

Roman Gula


Wolf in a forest

Results of a study on wolf resting site selection

Results of a study on wolf resting site selection

In Forest Ecology and Management, we published the results of a study conducted by the SAVE Fund team in the Bory Dolnoslaskie region.
The authors of the paper analyzed the winter selection of resting sites by wolves in a commercial pine forest, to test if roads, settlements and forest type influence this choice both during the day and at night.

What sites do wolves select most often?
– At the landscape scale, wolves chose resting sites located away from settlements and high-traffic roads (public roads and major forest roads).
– Wolves avoided not only public roads but also forest roads, even those with low traffic. Low visibility of the resting site was also an important factor in site selection.
– During the day, wolves rested in thickets and forests with understorey, while at night they chose more open habitats.

The study was funded by SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund and Polish Academy of Sciences. More information about research supported by our Foundation can be found at: fundacja-save.pl/en/our-research/

Magda Strzała

Wolf in a forest

Wilk szczeniak

Reproduction in Ilzecka and Swietokrzyska Forests

23. July 2021|In Wolf protection, Poland

Reproduction in Ilzecka and Swietokrzyska Forests

At the beginning of July, we managed to record a pup in the Ilzecka Forest. Curious little wolf noticed the photo trap and carefully sniffed it.

In the Swietokrzyska Forest we also managed to confirm the reproduction. Scyzor, the wolf caught in May, was helping to raise the pups throughout June and his telemetry locations showed us where the pups were. We set up a photo trap a few hundred meters from the site so that we would not disturb the wolves, and were able to photograph three pups passing by, as well as adult wolves. The wolves also responded to our howling – two adult wolves and three or four pups howled.

 

Roman Gula


Wolf in Poland

What do Poles think about wolves?

What do Poles think about wolves?

The history of human and wolf coexistence can be described as alternating extermination and recovery of wolf populations. Currently, since 1998, these animals have been under strict protection. How does our society perceive this solution? And what is the attitude of Poles towards wolves?

 

(1) Attitudes toward wolves
– A 2016-2017 survey of rural residents and foresters (a total of 617 people) from six regions where wolves occur shows a prevalance of neutral or positive attitudes toward wolves. Most respondents like wolves, value them as a species, and think that they have positive impact on ecosystems. Most of the respondents do not feel fear of wolves.

 

(2) Attitude toward population management
– Despite neutral/positive attitudes toward wolves, only 32% responded that these predators should be completely protected, 47% did not support this, and 21% had no opinion.
– More than half (55%) of respondents would support seasonal wolf hunting, and 50% thought wolf hunting should be restricted to specific areas.
– However, support for unrestricted hunting was low at the level of only 11%.

 

More negative attitudes were observed in regions with long-history of wolf presence and where attacks on livestock occur. Respondents’ attitudes toward wolves were partly influenced by their knowledge of the species and their values toward wildlife.

 

What conclusions did the authors of this study draw?
The researchers suggest conducting regional educational campaigns in rural areas. Through such initiatives, reliable information about wolf biology and ecology could be conveyed. This would also help eliminate stereotypes about wolf-human conflict. The results confirm the importance of reducing wolf-livestock conflicts (e.g., by improving husbandry practices on farms).

Source: research conducted by the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Technical University of Munich and sponsored by the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund:
– Gosling E., Bojarska K., Gula R., Kuehn R. 2019 Recent arrivals or established tenants? History of wolf presence influences attitudes toward the carnivore. Wildlife Society Bulletin 43, 4: 639-650
The publication is available in English at: https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wsb.1027

 

Magda Strzała