Gagat's visit to Prague, Czech Republic

The Polish wolf from the Świętokrzyska Forest continues its journey through the Czech Republic.

After a short rest in the Świtawska Upland, Gagat initially headed south, but turned west near the village of Banin. For the next five days he continued in this direction until, near the town of Ledeč nad Sázavou, he reached the highway connecting Prague with Brno.

Similarly to the Polish A4, the Czech E50 motorway stopped the wolf’s further journey to the west. On the map you can see the roads marked with yellow lines that stopped (at least temporarily) Gagat’s dispersion. Insufficient number of animal crossings or their location in the wrong place has a strong impact on the migration of many animal species. This is particularly evident in the example of Gagat’s attempts to cross the A4 motorway – it took him about 2 weeks to find the right place.

After reaching the E50, Gagat changed course and headed north-west along the motorway. In this way… he reached the outskirts of Prague! He even spent the night in a small forest at Praga 21, but he probably didn’t like the urban environment, because he retreated back east, where he tried to hunt something in the fields. Let’s hope he succeeded. Where will our Świętokrzyskie wolf go next?

*Gagat is a young wolf in the process of dispersion (migration), wandering in search of a suitable place to set up a home. He wears a GPS collar that allows us to track his steps and which was founded on the initiative of the constantly supporting us Suchedniów Forest District and Regional Directorate of State Forests in Radom by forest districts: Barycz, Daleszyce, Kielce, Skarżysko, Starachowice, Stąporków and Suchedniów.

Author: Roman Gula