Courtesy of Monty Sloan/www.wolfpark.org
As Bulgaria’s wolf population
increases, environmental organizations
are trying to protect the wolves from
hunters and government policies.
Bulgaria's wolf population is on the rise and the government is actively encouraging farmers and hunters to kill them - a step which violates the Bern Convention for protection of wild fauna and habitats which Bulgaria signed in 1992.
A new act recently passed for hunting and game protection states that hunters are free to exterminate any carnivores they encounter. A bounty of 20 leva and two cubic metres of high quality timber for every wolf killed is on offer.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry claimed that wolves are responsible for attacks on livestock and for the decreasing number of wild game. "There are currently 2,160 wolves in Bulgaria and the acceptable number is 800 to 900," said Snezhana Paskaleva at the Ministry's press centre. "They are a threat to wild animals and so we allow them to be hunted throughout the year."
Environmental organizations do not deny the growing number of wolves. The population has only just begun to recover from an intensive government poisoning campaign in the 1950s which pushed wolves close to extinction.
For Alexander Dutsov, vice-chairman of the Balkanski Wildlife Society, the government's policies are unacceptable. "The government's figures are unreliable, we estimate that the actual number of wolves in Bulgaria is no more than 1,300. Our organization is trying to prove that the wolf has its place in nature and should not be exterminated. We have found that wolves generally kill young or sick wild animals and this is necessary to maintain a healthy balance in nature."
Dutsov denied that wolves were responsible for the decreasing wild animal population. "It's well known that this is due to poachers," he said. "But the government is unable to do anything about them."
He admitted that attacks on livestock were a problem but traced this back to the government's own policies. The wolf population dramatically decreased after the poisoning campaign and for the next 20 or 30 years there were very few livestock attacks. Shepherds and villagers gradually abandoned traditional methods of protection, such as fencing in their flocks at night or using karakachan dogs to guard their animals. Consequently, their livestock is now highly vulnerable to attack. "We shouldn't blame the wolves for attacking easy prey," said Dutsov. "If livestock had better protection the wolves would look for wild prey."
The Balkanski Wildlife Organization is working with the Semperviva Association to reintroduce karakachan dogs to Bulgaria. Their project of giving the dogs to shepherds in the worst areas has proven very successful and there are now about 30 of them across the country. "The people with dogs no longer have problems with wolves. There are still attacks but no animals are taken," said Dutsov. In a recent survey, 90 per cent of those questioned in the Rhodope Mountains said that wolves should be exterminated because of the attacks on livestock. "We need to change the mentality of local people," he said, "but this is very difficult."
Dutsov has found that it is easier to work with children. This year leaflets about the habits of bears, wolves and lynxes were given to all the schools in mountain villages. "It's much easier to change young peoples' opinions about wild animals," he said. "If you explain their role in nature they understand." He found that the children responded positively to the awareness campaign by making posters and writing stories about the animals.
Although environmental agencies are lobbying Parliament for changes in the law concerning wolves, Dutsov's priority is to make changes at a local level. "We already have very good legislation to control poaching," he said. "But forestry rangers don't have the equipment or motivation to enforce it. If there are new laws to protect wolves they may not be followed. We need to make people feel that it's not necessary to kill the wolves."
As well as reintroducing karakachan dogs, the Balkanski Wildlife Organization is encouraging shepherds and farmers to improve the protection of their flocks at night.
There are no government funds available for the projects that Dutsov works with. They are funded by Berndt Thies, a private Swiss foundation and through the European Union by Arcturos, a Greek NGO. Arcturos is also working with organizations in Albania and Macedonia to determine the legal status of large carnivores in the Balkans, the level of attacks, and what measures are taken to protect against them. The results of the joint project are due to be published in September and will be distributed to NGOs and government ministries.
The Swiss-sponsored project is ongoing and aims to monitor the movements and habits of Bulgaria's wolf and bear population. So far they have gathered only basic data as it has been very difficult to track wolves. "The last few winters were very poor," said Dutsov. "There was not enough snow to track the wolves for more than two days." The society expects to receive radio-tagging equipment by the end of the year and Dutsov is hopeful that it will greatly improve their research. "Even if we only manage to tag one or two animals it will be possible to track them through the mountains and monitor their habits more easily."
Wolves are still present in many European countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, and most of Scandinavia. Although EU member countries adopted the Habitats Directive in 1992, which aims to preserve endangered species and habitats, implementation of the directive is years behind schedule. The European Commission now intends to withhold regional aid from countries that do not implement the law.
The Balkanski Wildlife Society would like the Bulgarian government to forbid the hunting of wolves at all times. They want the wolf to be recognized as an endangered species and for it to be protected as such but Dutsov is aware that they have a long way to go. He regularly comes into contact with farmers and can understand their problems. "It is a violation of their interests. If they have only five or six sheep and they lose one to a wolf it's a big loss for them. In many cases, it's not a question of attitudes - it's the fact that they're poor. When this is the case I can understand why they want to exterminate all the wolves," he said. "There is still a lot for us to do."
A new act recently passed for hunting and game protection states that hunters are free to exterminate any carnivores they encounter. A bounty of 20 leva and two cubic metres of high quality timber for every wolf killed is on offer.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry claimed that wolves are responsible for attacks on livestock and for the decreasing number of wild game. "There are currently 2,160 wolves in Bulgaria and the acceptable number is 800 to 900," said Snezhana Paskaleva at the Ministry's press centre. "They are a threat to wild animals and so we allow them to be hunted throughout the year."
Environmental organizations do not deny the growing number of wolves. The population has only just begun to recover from an intensive government poisoning campaign in the 1950s which pushed wolves close to extinction.
For Alexander Dutsov, vice-chairman of the Balkanski Wildlife Society, the government's policies are unacceptable. "The government's figures are unreliable, we estimate that the actual number of wolves in Bulgaria is no more than 1,300. Our organization is trying to prove that the wolf has its place in nature and should not be exterminated. We have found that wolves generally kill young or sick wild animals and this is necessary to maintain a healthy balance in nature."
Dutsov denied that wolves were responsible for the decreasing wild animal population. "It's well known that this is due to poachers," he said. "But the government is unable to do anything about them."
He admitted that attacks on livestock were a problem but traced this back to the government's own policies. The wolf population dramatically decreased after the poisoning campaign and for the next 20 or 30 years there were very few livestock attacks. Shepherds and villagers gradually abandoned traditional methods of protection, such as fencing in their flocks at night or using karakachan dogs to guard their animals. Consequently, their livestock is now highly vulnerable to attack. "We shouldn't blame the wolves for attacking easy prey," said Dutsov. "If livestock had better protection the wolves would look for wild prey."
The Balkanski Wildlife Organization is working with the Semperviva Association to reintroduce karakachan dogs to Bulgaria. Their project of giving the dogs to shepherds in the worst areas has proven very successful and there are now about 30 of them across the country. "The people with dogs no longer have problems with wolves. There are still attacks but no animals are taken," said Dutsov. In a recent survey, 90 per cent of those questioned in the Rhodope Mountains said that wolves should be exterminated because of the attacks on livestock. "We need to change the mentality of local people," he said, "but this is very difficult."
Dutsov has found that it is easier to work with children. This year leaflets about the habits of bears, wolves and lynxes were given to all the schools in mountain villages. "It's much easier to change young peoples' opinions about wild animals," he said. "If you explain their role in nature they understand." He found that the children responded positively to the awareness campaign by making posters and writing stories about the animals.
Although environmental agencies are lobbying Parliament for changes in the law concerning wolves, Dutsov's priority is to make changes at a local level. "We already have very good legislation to control poaching," he said. "But forestry rangers don't have the equipment or motivation to enforce it. If there are new laws to protect wolves they may not be followed. We need to make people feel that it's not necessary to kill the wolves."
As well as reintroducing karakachan dogs, the Balkanski Wildlife Organization is encouraging shepherds and farmers to improve the protection of their flocks at night.
There are no government funds available for the projects that Dutsov works with. They are funded by Berndt Thies, a private Swiss foundation and through the European Union by Arcturos, a Greek NGO. Arcturos is also working with organizations in Albania and Macedonia to determine the legal status of large carnivores in the Balkans, the level of attacks, and what measures are taken to protect against them. The results of the joint project are due to be published in September and will be distributed to NGOs and government ministries.
The Swiss-sponsored project is ongoing and aims to monitor the movements and habits of Bulgaria's wolf and bear population. So far they have gathered only basic data as it has been very difficult to track wolves. "The last few winters were very poor," said Dutsov. "There was not enough snow to track the wolves for more than two days." The society expects to receive radio-tagging equipment by the end of the year and Dutsov is hopeful that it will greatly improve their research. "Even if we only manage to tag one or two animals it will be possible to track them through the mountains and monitor their habits more easily."
Wolves are still present in many European countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, and most of Scandinavia. Although EU member countries adopted the Habitats Directive in 1992, which aims to preserve endangered species and habitats, implementation of the directive is years behind schedule. The European Commission now intends to withhold regional aid from countries that do not implement the law.
The Balkanski Wildlife Society would like the Bulgarian government to forbid the hunting of wolves at all times. They want the wolf to be recognized as an endangered species and for it to be protected as such but Dutsov is aware that they have a long way to go. He regularly comes into contact with farmers and can understand their problems. "It is a violation of their interests. If they have only five or six sheep and they lose one to a wolf it's a big loss for them. In many cases, it's not a question of attitudes - it's the fact that they're poor. When this is the case I can understand why they want to exterminate all the wolves," he said. "There is still a lot for us to do."
