AT ONE TIME,THE GREY WOLF HAD THE LARGEST NATURAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANY LAND MAMMAL OTHER THAN HUMANS.CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION HAVE COST IT THAT RECORD,AND WHILE THE WOLF IS RETURNING TO SOME AREAS,MANY SMALL POPULATIONS ARE STILL VULNERABLE. PAUL EVANS JOINED A TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS HELPING MONITOR WOLVES IN POLAND IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THEM BEING HUNTED INTO LOCAL EXTINCTION
IT’S A SOUND TO CHILL THE BLOOD. In thepreternatural stillness that descends with the falling snow, a wolf howls. A reply comes almost instantly. For millennia, this call and response –both territorial display and an aid to pack cohesion – has rung out across the densely wooded slopes of Poland’s Bieszczady Mountains, home to the highest density of wolves in Europe. But even here in this wild, remote region, it’s a sound that is becoming increasingly rare.
One of these wolves recently walked along the ridge upon which we’re standing, through beech and fir encrusted with a delicate tracery of frost. The smudgy prints that we’ve been following have now been resolved. There, stamped in the frozen mud, is one of the most enigmatic signatures of the wild. The fore print is about ten centimetres in diameter, four large clawed toes and a large heel make an almost circular shape; the hind print smaller and more oval.
The forests in which this wolf lives form part of Poland’s 270-squarekilometre Bieszczady (pronounced
Bish-cardy) National Park. Located 300 kilometres southeast of Krakow, and bordering Ukraine and Slovakia, the park has its own administration and conservation regime, a reflection of the immense importance of the wildlife it protects, which includes roe deer, wild boar, elk, European bison, beaver, brown bear and lynx.
The national park initially covered an area of 56 square kilometres when it was established in 1973 in the face of strong opposition from the hunting lobby. It was enlarged following the fall of Communism and then, in 1993, as part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere initiative, it was included in the 2,000-square-kilometre East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, which also takes in areas of Slovakia and the Ukraine. Bieszczady is the reserve’s central protected zone, with a largely hands-off style of management. At present the Slovak and Ukrainian sections have only partial protection.
Of all the wildlife safeguarded by the reserve, it is the wolf whose status is the most contentious. Local anxieties and resentment, pressure from
farmers and a powerful hunting lobby, inaccurate scientific data, social and economic development imperatives and an age-old fear combine to make conservation a political minefield.
Dr Wojciech Smietana of the Institute of Nature Conservation at the Polish Academy of Sciences has been studying wolves in Bieszczady National Park since 1988. “Conservation under Communism was poor,” says Smietana, “but under capitalism it became worse. Only now are we beginning to make real progress.” One
Dr Wojciech Smietana’s radiotracking study will help to establish how many wolves live in Poland’s Bieszczady National Park and provide insights into the movement of packs and the ways in which they use the park
of his main concerns is that the official figures given for Poland’s wolf population are double what they are in reality. These official figures were influenced by data obtained by game managers who want to see a resumption of wolf hunting. Protected in Bieszczady since 1973, wolves were still hunted in its environs until 1998. However, illegal hunting, poaching and calls for culling for ‘scientific purposes’are ever-present threats.
“For years,” says Smietana, “I applied for permission to use radiotelemetry to gain accurate information on the wolf population, but the hunting lobby blocked my permits. Yet permits were granted to hunt 150 wolves.” From 1991 to 1995, Smietana used snow tracking to count wolves in Bieszczady. In an area of 100 square kilometres he identified the presence of five wolf packs, each of which comprised between two and ten individuals. His total estimate for the park’s population came to just 60–80 wolves, but the official figure was 100–200. A cull of 100 was proposed, but only 35 were actually killed; however, this still meant the loss of as much as half the population.
It wasn’t until 2000 that Smietana received permission to begin radiotracking. With the assistance of volunteers from Biosphere Expeditions, a non-profit organisation that engages in wildlife conservation projects, and Land Rover, which provided him with a vehicle, he has trapped a number of wolves and fitted them with radiocollars. The first was killed after 17 days, the second after only eight. The third, a large male between five and seven years old, was trapped and collared in March last year and it’s likely that it’s his tracks we’ve found. These three wolves came from a pack of seven that has now been reduced to just a single pair. Since the winter of 2002, this area has been used by only two packs – this pair and another group of five.
Hunting, whether illegal or state sanctioned, isn’t the only threat the wolf faces. It has also seen a huge decline in the abundance of its main prey species, the red deer. Under Communism, the deer population was kept high for hunting, and during the
At one time,the grey wolf was found throught Europe.Today, there are numerous fragmented populations,with Poland’s being the largest. Could such natural wealth be more evenly distributed when Poland joins the EU? While most conservationists are opposed to wolf hunting, they are more open to the idea of them being relocated from areas where they face persecution.
Under the 1992 European Habitats Directive,governments are requested to
reintroduce species that have become extinct in their countries.This could lead to the translocation of wolves that might otherwise be killed to places where they were once abundant.
Most of Britain lost its wolves in the Middle Ages, but in Scotland they persisted until the 18th century. While British authorities feel that they are fulfilling their obligations by reintroducing beaver to Scotland,Europe’s expansion into wolf country could galvanise the wolfreintroduction debate.
Advocates argue that conditions already exist in Scotland to support a wolf population.But their opposition claims that the entire forest ecosystem must be restored before reintroductions can be contemplated, and that objections from land owners and hunters are so strong that the idea is a complete non-starter.
Although there appears to be widespread support for a reintroduction,at present there are no plans to undertake studies into the idea’s feasibility.
1970s and 80s there were around ten individuals per square kilometre. Post Communism, the hunting industry suffered and economic efforts in the region were shifted to timber production. Overgrazing of the forests precipitated a large deer cull in the 1990s and the average population is now down to just 1.5–2 per square kilometre.
Hunters have long complained that wolves take large male red deer in prime condition and, when a large trophy stag can fetch the equivalent of £1,600–3,200, it would seem that they have a strong financial incentive to cull wolves. However, Smietana’s examination of 600 wolf kills has revealed that the deer most vulnerable
Of all the wildlife protected by the reserve,it is the wolf that has the most contentious status. A multitude of issues – including local resentment, pressure from farmers and hunters,inaccurate scientific data,social and economic development imperatives and an age-old fear – combine to make conservation a political minefield
to predation are calves, followed by the youngest males and the oldest females. Although some prime-aged males are occasionally taken, they are usually those with small fat reserves, which are less able to endure a long wolf chase. And while individuals may fall prey to the wolves, the process actually helps maintain the health of
the deer population by restricting its growth, preventing the overgrazing and disease that traditionally accompany overpopulation.
Smietana’s research has shown that red deer make up three quarters of the wolf’s diet, the remainder consisting mostly of roe deer and wild boar. Although only about two per cent of the diet comes from livestock (usually sheep), it’s here that some of the greatest conflict between people and wolves occurs. The wolf’s protected status means that farmers are compensated for any lost livestock, but it’s a complicated and contentious business. Affected farmers lobby for the removal of local wolf packs or for returning wolves to the game list.
This problem is partly rooted in the troubled history of the Bieszczady Mountains. With only five people per square kilometre, these mountains are among the most sparsely populated areas in Europe, thus providing a sanctuary for wildlife that is endangered or extinct elsewhere. However, the origins of this low population density lie in war, ethnic cleansing and land exchanges brought about by the redrawing of political borders. In addition, many of the region’s pastoralhusbandry traditions, which enabled people to live in such rural isolation, have been lost.
Smietana is working to revive one of these traditions – the use of Tatra sheepdogs to guard flocks. This large, tough hound is raised with sheep in order to form a powerful social bond with the flock. Wolves are very reluctant to risk injury by tackling Tatra dogs and two per flock provide a sufficient deterrent. Smietana uses the dogs to corral flocks at night into enclosures surrounded by three strands of electrified wire. The top strand is a ‘fladry’ – a line of coloured flags that wolves dislike and are reluctant to cross.
“We used this method on a farm that lost 15–30 sheep to wolves in one year,” he says, “and over the past few years only 2–3 have been lost. It isn’t perfect but it shows that farmers and wolves can live together peacefully.”
Whether this coexistence is ever given a chance will depend on many factors. Although only small-scale, the telemetry project is providing a
New tourism initiatives bring fresh threats.Smietana is concerned that the subdivision of bankrupt farms for the development of holiday homes,along with the increase in visitors to the forest,will affect the free movement of the wolves that live in the area
valuable insight into the way that wolves use the area. However, their persecution continues. Even within the national park there are still hunting towers where deer carcasses are used as bait for wolves, which are shot for the black-market hunting trade. Smietana hopes to trap and collar a wolf from the pack operating in this area so that those involved in this trade will know it is being tracked.
Geography creates a further problem that may worsen in the future. Although animals don’t carry passports, conservationists do. Wolves regularly cross the Ukrainian border, but it’s hard for Ukrainian conservationists to follow them. Smietana is worried that when Poland joins the EU his Ukrainian colleagues will have to purchase visas. Because these scientists are woefully under funded, this will hit the Ukrainians even harder. And what will joining the EU mean to tourism, agricultural pressures, and conservation?
Smietana is also worried that the subdivision of bankrupt farms for holiday-home development and increased penetration of the forest by visitors, their traffic and the roads upon which
they depend, will greatly affect the free movement of the wolves that live in the area.
The wolf print that we found on the wooded ridge is logged for Smietana’s burgeoning dataset. To those of us on the expedition who found it, along with all the other prints and bags full of scat, it represents something much more. To be an advocate for the wolf means embracing all of the wild, even those parts that are difficult or unpalatable. These tracks belong to an inspiring language, and it is one we should learn. The living creature at the end of its trail may never care, but if we’re going to save it from persecution – and possible extinction – we must.
■ Biosphere Expeditions is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote conservation by forging alliances between scientists and the public
■ To learn more, contact Biosphere Expeditions (Tel: 01502 583 085, Email: info@biosphere-expeditions.org) or visit the organisation’s website (www.biosphere-expeditions.org)
■ Paul Evans travelled with the help of Land Rover and LOT Polish Airlines