Bartek the Wanderer
In the note from December 21, we mentioned that Bartek – a young male caught on November 30, 2020 – belongs to a wolf family living in the Świętokrzyska Forest. As it turned out, on December 22, Bartek went on a journey in search of a partner. He crossed the road no. 42 between Pięty and Odrowąż and came as far as Skłoby, a village west of Chlewiska. We have been recording the presence of wolves in this forest complex for many years, and we have managed to document the reproduction twice (family from Niekłański Forest). Bartek stayed in the vicinity of Skłoby for 5 days and then returned to his home territory. After one day of rest, he was on his way again. This time, he headed west. For several days he stayed in the forests south-east of Konskie. In this complex, we also recorded the reproduction of wolves – a family from the Black River Valley. On New Year’s Day, Bartek returned to the Świętokrzyska Forest again. This time he stayed there for 6 days and then set off to the northwest. However, he did not stop in the Niekłańskie Forests, but crossed the Przysucha-Końskie road and wandered through the Przysuskie Forests, to the edge of the Gielniów hump, in the vicinity of the town of Gielniów, from which the name of this geographical microregion is derived. In the Przysuskie Forests, where Bartek has been staying for 5 days, we have also been monitoring the presence of the wolf family for many years, and this year we have managed to document its reproduction. This type of dispersion of young wolves from the family pack is not unusual. In search of a reproductive partner, young individuals do not always leave the family and migrate in one direction. Quite often, dispersion is an exploration of the territories of neighboring families, after which wolves return – at least for some time – to their family. We will see what will happen this time – the family from the Świętokrzyska Forest currently has – without Bartek – at least 8 wolves.
Roman Gula