TRYING to defend the interests of Bulgaria's estimated 2100 wolves at a time when hunters are being encouraged to kill them, and there is no legislation to protect them, is a frustrating occupation for Balkani Wildlife Society board member Alexander Dutsov and his colleagues.

Their wolf study and conservation project has been running for over two years with the intention of decreasing the impact of humans on wolves, but progress has been slow for several reasons. Firstly their lack of success trapping wolves has meant that they have been unable to fit radio collars and so cannot accurately follow the animals' movements. Secondly, they are up against the unfortunate fact that most Bulgarians do not consider poaching to be a crime, and, thirdly, that wolves have been attacking livestock, giving the public cause to consider them a nuisance.

The population of Roe and Red deer in Bulgaria has dropped dramatically in the past 12 years, down to around 50 000 from an estimated 250 000 in 1991. Official reports acknowledge that illegal hunting and over hunting is a factor, but put the brunt of the blame on wolves and feral dogs. "It's hard to explain to people that wolves will never overuse their natural food resources," said Dutsov with some exasperation. "The main problem is poaching, which has reached a very high level. Legal hunters are restricted as to what, and how much, they can kill, but there are many people out there who have guns and hunt without permits."

Until Balkani can prove otherwise, wolves will be blamed for the decreasing ungulate population, and the question of poaching will be sidestepped by local officials that are either ignorant of the law, unequipped to deal with illegal hunters, or actively involved with the increasingly popular pastime.

For the past several months Dutsov and his colleagues have been working with a new program, analysing wolf excrement to statistically determine the percentage of prey species consumed by the animals in a certain area. The process is time consuming and difficult as they often have just bone fragments and hair with which to identify prey species, and he emphasised the need for them to track wolves using radio collars to collect accurate data regarding their movements and behaviour. So far the wolves have outwitted the 15 trap lines that Balkani have set in the past eighteen months, because, Dutsov speculated, they are well aware of the dangers presented by humans and steer clear of any sign of them.

"Researchers in North America have had much greater success trapping wolves because the animals live far from human habitation," he said, "but the situation is very different here because the wolves have been co-existing with humans for centuries - they teach their young how to avoid us."

There is no law protecting wolves at the moment because, although Bulgaria is a signatory of the Berne Convention for protection of wild fauna and habitats, the convention has a clause stating that in countries with a high population of certain animals, such as wolves in Bulgaria, the authorities can have a different approach.

However, Dutsov believes that the hunting methods of poison, leg snares, nets, and bright light to blind the animals, which are outlawed by the convention, are still very much in use and are advertised in Bulgarian hunting magazines.

"Wolves can be hunted all year round, and the National Hunting Board even increased the bounty for a wolf from 25 to 100 leva last month," said Dutsov. "I don't believe we'll be able to fully protect wolves in the near future, but we hope to collect enough scientific data to prove that they are not such a great threat to other wild animals and livestock, so at least they'll be protected during their mating season for example."

He agreed that attacks on livestock have not helped their case as they cause the shepherds to petition the Forestry Association and the Hunting Board to organise wolf hunts. The shepherds' flocks are often poorly protected and have decreased from the thousands of 20 years ago to just a few hundred per village, which means that every animal lost is felt much more than before.

What is needed, as with many environmental issues, is education, and Balkani have already begun to tackle this subject. Two years ago they introduced their first education project for large carnivores to 44 schools in West Bulgarian mountainous regions. Text books were prepared for both older and younger children with information, games and puzzles - in all over 6000 children received the books. They also organised a competition for the best wild habitat model constructed from natural material and are now about to begin a tour of the schools to judge the results.

"When you ask the children a few questions, you can see that they're changing their minds about the animals," Dutsov observed. "That's really the only optimistic thing at the moment - that pupils are changing their minds."