The problem is, although Slovak Republic ratified the Bern convention, we have an exemption to kill wolves and bears. This predator was annually protected from 1995, but our Ministry of Environment asked for the exemption in 1999 and from this time it is possible to hunt for wolves on Nov.,Dec. and January. There were officially hunted about 150 wolves in Slovakia last year - only one year. Nobody knows how many were poached. This is bad. The numbers of the whole population of the wolves in Slovakia are very different. The biologists say there is no more then 150 wolves (in March) and the last several years all natality was killed by hunters. The Low Tatras National Park director thinks there is about 350 wolves here (before hunting season).
And of course, hunters say about more then 1000 wolves in Slovakia, but during the last counting of large predators in Polana Mountains in the middle of Slovakia, the real numbers were 3-5 times smaller then the hunters say.
It is a paradox ? when the population of the rare species little increase our state starts regulate it {by the way 40% of the Slovak Parliament members are the hunters}. And the real population is between 100 - 140 wolves here (guess of scientists).
Except the problem of official hunting the wolves, the Slovak Republic breaks the Bern convention as for other predators - Martes martes, Martes foina, Meles meles, Putorius eversmanii which are not protected annually and it is possible to hunt for them. Using the leghold traps is also common, although it is prohibited, because distribution of the traps is legal.
It is very astounding that permission for collective hunts for wolves in Slovakia is not officially needed and wolves are commonly treated as varmints. This status enables to kill as many wolves as hunters can. There is no management of that.
Please, I would like to ask you to write your opinion about this situation to our Government, Ministry of Environment and the State Nature Conservancy ( the links are down the mail ). If it is possible, please distribute this letter to other NGOs.
Thank you very much for your help.
Ing. Marcel Trnovsky / Ecologist / Slovakia / January, 2004
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Office of The Government of Slovak Republic
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Ministry of Environment / The Section of Nature Conservation
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State Nature Conservancy of Slovak Republic
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Low Tatras National Park
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Members of Slovak Parliament
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