It will again be possible to hunt the wild wolf based on the set quotas. This follows from the draft decree of the Ministry of the Environment, by which the predatory wolf is to be transferred from the list of protected animals to the list of selected animal species.
15.11.2024 15:33
“The aim of the draft decree is the introduction of rational management of the wolf population,” explains the Ministry of the Environment, stating that under strictly defined conditions of territorial and temporal protection it will be possible to hunt wolves, on the basis of established quotas, similar to what was the case before 2021. The quotas will to be determined by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic. The decree has been in the interdepartmental commenting process since the beginning of November.
The proposal envisages that it will be possible to shoot the wolf from September 1 to January 15 of the following year. “The temporal protection of the predatory wolf is established from January 16 to August 31 of the current calendar year, which ensures sufficient time during which its management can take place without negatively affecting the reproductive cycle of the species. At the same time, the year-round protection of his dwellings is ensured,” the proponents of the proposal say.
The Envirorezort explains the proposal by the trend of increasing the number of wolves and their expansion into new areas, which, with the gradual loss of shyness, leads to increasing damage to farm animals.
Diary of N on Friday, he informed that the director of the Tatra National Park, Peter Olexa, is not waiting for the (dis)approval of the amendment and issued a so-called order letter, in which he banned wolf hunting in the territory of the High Tatras. He justified his decision by the fact that the wolf regulates deer, roe deer and wild game, thereby contributing to the reduction of the number of animals damaging agricultural crops and forest stands.
The draft decree is unprofessional, unsystematic and absolutely unacceptable from the point of view of nature protection. The initiative My sme les and the Aevis Foundation draw attention to this, and they call on the ministry headed by Tomáš Taraba (SNS) to withdraw the draft decree from the legislative process.
“In addition to weakening the protection of the wolf, the decree will also significantly reduce its social value, which may result in favoring poaching and increasing the risk of its intentional killing,” conservation activists emphasize in a statement, in which they also point to the irreplaceable role of the wolf in nature, for example its contribution to the reduction overpopulation of roe deer and red deer, which causes economic damage. They also warn against the threat of financial sanctions in the event of a violation of Slovakia’s international obligations.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
