The conservation organizations Aevis, My sme les and WWF Slovakia called on hunters in a letter to refuse wolf hunting and not to support the initiative of the Slovak Ministry of the Environment, which allowed wolf hunting. According to them, it is important that hunters show a responsible attitude and respect for protected species and refuse to hunt wolves. TASR was informed about this by Ivana Kohutková from the Aevis organization.
In the letter, the organizations appeal that the wolf should not be a trophy, because it is part of Slovak nature and a symbol of forests. At the same time, they emphasize that their goal is not a conflict with the hunting community, but a joint effort to consistently protect nature. “We believe that among hunters there are many who are aware of the irreplaceable role the wolf plays in nature, and that its hunting, as allowed by the Ministry of the Environment together with the Ministry of Agriculture, is wrong,” said Rastislav Mičaník from the organization Aevis.
Environmentalists further point out that the decision to allow wolf hunting was taken by the ministries in an unprofessional and incompetent manner. “The ministry ignored the opinions of leading scientists and nature conservation experts. At the same time, it did not provide any scientific evidence that would prove that wolf hunting will bring real benefits for the protection of livestock,” Katarína Butkovská from WWF Slovakia pointed out.
According to Marek Kuchta from the initiative We are the forest, hunting represents a threat to the balance of ecosystems, which the wolf helps to stabilize. Wolves prey mainly on diseased animals, he says, and naturally regulate game populations, helping to reduce economic damage to agricultural crops and forest cover.
The organizations pointed out that the shooting of wolves in Slovakia may have legal consequences due to the violation of national and European laws that are supposed to protect endangered animal species.
As of January 1, a new decree came into force that will allow wolf hunting on the territory of Slovakia. In the 2025 season, hunting is allowed until January 15, while the quota for this season was set at 74 individuals. Quotas are set by the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the environmental department, no one is calling for large-scale hunting, and the new decree is supposed to introduce rational management of the wolf population in Slovakia.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
