Funding the base of long term large carnivore conservation in Hungary
Project manager: Laszló Szemethy
Saint Stephen University Department of Wildlife Biology and Game Management
H – 2100 Gödöllő Páter Károly u. 1. Hungary
LIFE Nature project
LIFE00NAT/H/7162
1st Hungarian LIFE Nature project
Participants of the project More information about large carnivores in Hungary
More information about the projectContact us
Details of the project
Objectives: Many may wonder if both the wolf and lynx are protected, moreover, strictly protected species in Hungary, why a new project should and how it could contribute to their protection. Legal protection of a species can limit only factors directly jeopardizing the given species by human activity. However, there are various other sources of danger effecting wild animals directly or indirectly. To reduce the risk of these effects, species are not enough to be protected by the law and its enforcement, but other means and measures have to be involved to ensure their effective and full scale protection on the long run.
For details see short term goals
The main objective of the project is to facilitate the re-colonization of wolf and lynx in the country, developing stable populations. In addition to phrasing and implementing the most urgent measures, the long term program objectives also have to be exactly phrased out. The determined goals will function as a guideline according to which further measures and necessary investigations can be planned more circumspectly and much easier.
For details see long term goals
Actions: Parallel to setting the objectives, actions that are necessary to achieve them have to be phrased out. There are non-recurring actions on the one hand, that found the basis of a measure to be introduced and recurring actions on the other, that have to be done repeatedly through many years.
First results of the project: As the project started in 2001 some actions have already been completed, while others have partial results.
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Short term goals
Funding the scientific base of conservation:the first step must be a review of endangering factors, studying the way they effect the population. There is a need to get to know and discover the environmental needs of the species, how big area they use, what their population size is in the territory of Hungary.
Standardization and tightening of regulations and law enforcement: Since the 1st of May, 2001 both the wolf and the lynx are strictly protected in Hungary. However, declaration of the protected status by the force of law is unfortunately not enough. It is the illegal killing that still remains the main endangering factor to the wolf and lynx population of Hungary. In order to roll this back, adherence to regulations needs to be more effective and punitive sanctions need to be made even stricter.
Establishing the personal background of large carnivore conservation: To implement measures more effectively, a network of experts has to be set up, the members of which would have the right to make decisions in doubtful cases whether damages were caused by wolf or lynx, respectively, or not. To solve potential future conflicts about damages caused by large carnivores, a flexible and fast reacting compensation or support system has to be developed. Development of such a system, further more, harmonization of the interests of game managers and nature conservationists need to be done by the agreement and under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Education and raising awareness: Wolf and lynx (and large carnivores in general) are thought to be bloodthirsty, wild and vicious animals by ordinary people. This negative view has to be changed in order to ensure the protection of these species. Education is the right mean for that in the first place.
Establishing international relationships: As their distribution depends on the adequate environmental circumstances, animal species do not care about country borders. The Northern Mountain Range of Hungary is an elemental part of the Carpathians. Hungarian wolf and lynx populations are supposedly re-colonizing from these adjacent areas, thus they depend very much on the neighboring populations. According to this, we have to get in contact with the experts of the neighbouring countries (first of all in Slovakia).
see actions here
see first here
Long term goals
Expandingbackground data of protection:To develop an effective protection, the special environmental needs of these animals have to be known in details. Depending on the results of scientific researches the planned decisions can be made more precise and – based on the feedback – can be modified, if necessary.
Stabilization of the population in Hungary:On the basis of land use data areas can be marked out for large carnivore protection and the endangering factors may be controlled there.
To ensure the replacement of the population in Hungary:The majority of the animals re-colonizing our country arrive supposedly from the neighboring countries (first of all from Slovakia). To facilitate the stabilization of the Hungarian population undisturbed migration routes have to be ensured for the animals. By recognizing these routes a network of ecological corridors can be developed across country borders that would ensure the free migration of populations.
To promote judgment on wolf and lynx by human society:There is a need to continue the educational and awareness rising actions mentioned in the short term goals. Besides informing the public, however, reasons of the general bad discretion on large carnivores and the sources of possible conflicts have to be detected. A compensation or support system for local farmers and game managers should be developed to decrease suffering of possible damages in the areas where wolf and lynx occur.
see actions here
see first here
Non-recurring actions
Developing species protection action plansfor wolf and lynx:As species protection action plan (SPAP) for large carnivores had not existed at all in Hungary before our project started, creating the action plans for wolf and lynx was the first task of this LIFE Nature project. The plans look through the former observations and occurrence of the species, their status in Hungary and the endangering factors. By this overview it supplies short and long term tasks and actions for their conservation.
The main aspect in developing the species protection action plans was to have the plans known and accepted by all interested parties of nature conservation and wildlife management, being either an official institution or a civil organization. Therefore, the expert team working out the action plans includes members from the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, WWF Hungary, the National Chamber of Hunters, as well as researchers of the DoWBGM. The main goal of the species protection action plans is to make the laws stricter and to develop the long term conception of protection which is known and adopted by all interested parties. Based on this conception a species protection action plan sets out short (2-5 year) and long term (5-10 year) tasks.
see first results here
Training of field monitoring participants:wardens of national parks have experiences in fieldwork and know their territory in details. However, special training is needed even for these experts to recognize the life traces of large carnivores that conduct a hidden life. As the occurrence of large carnivores is rare in Hungary, the field work experts learn to recognize all kinds of their signs (tracks, footprints, scats, preys). By the training experts will be able to discover more signs of these animals and will be able to make reliable observations. By the results of the monitoring population changes can be followed in time. Moreover, the presence of stable populations, damages caused by large carnivores or even illegal killings can be certified.
see first results here
Developing a damage-assessing and compensation system:Although the protection of large carnivores is legally well determined, the actions of practical protection are missing. As people are sensitive to the conflicts with large carnivores, there is a need to develop a practical system of compensation in details.
The main cause of illegal killing is the fear of damages they might cause. Several farmers and game managers try to prevent damages by killing the carnivore. The future compensation system is to estimate how big these damages actually are, and suggest a system to assess and compensate the real damage. By phasing in these new actions the habit of game managers would be changed: they become „large carnivore-friendly” and will accept wolf and lynx as necessary members of the natural ecosystems.
see first results here
Developing wolf and lynx database:It is essential to know the former status and distribution of these species for planning future actions and making decisions (when the re-colonization started exactly, what have it made start, whether the Hungarian population is dependent or independent on the population of other countries, how fast and by which corridors does the re-colonization take place, etc.) Even the fundamental orientation is sometimes not so easy, because all our knowledge about the two species is based on some sporadic observations. Until the middle of the 20th century there is almost any data about the presence of wolf and lynx in the country. Only at the end of the century (from the 1980’s) got these animals into the limelight.
Creating the database we tried to use up all possible resources of information. But since the source of the information received by the database – and therefore their reliability – moves on a very wide scale, during data processing the reliability of the different information received has to be distinguished. For classifying the received information the following categories are specified: 1: Actual field data of the monitoring program, 2: personal or personally checked observations 3: any information obtained from the area of research (or outside of it) and literature data, e.g.: 1. reports on observations; 2. reports on killing (with proof).
see first results here
Developing international relations:The majority of the Hungarian large carnivore population lives by the Slovakian border. For the smooth working of a future radio-telemetry survey in the border region a good connection with the experts living on the other side of the border is needed. A long term task is to develop a collective monitoring system and linked database, which would be an important help to discover the relations between the populations on the two sides of the border.
see first results here
Recurring actions
Survey of the distribution of wolf and lynx by questionnaire:Questionnaires will be sent to wildlife managers, nature conservation rangers and foresters working in different regions of the country, similarly to former surveys of the DoWBGM. The managers and leaders of management units are requested to give information on the populations of different (huntable as well as protected) species in their territory. This method allows us to get a quick overview about the actual state of repatriation. By this method data can be collected in a fast and cheap way. Data got by this method are always comparable to each other. Moreover, the annual regular survey can verify or control the results of other survey methods.
see first results here
Field monitoring of the presence wolf and lynx:Whereas the results of the questionnaire survey may be uncertain depending on the ratio of people replying, in addition to it and to verify the results a more detailed examination is necessary. But so far in Hungary there were no established methods for the field monitoring of large carnivores. The effectiveness of the monitoring may have important bias caused by the different depth, regularity and competence of field surveys. Therefore, a standardized monitoring program was launched in the framework of the present LIFE Nature project to be conducted by experts in the regions – mainly in the Northern Mountain Range – frequently visited by large carnivores. The present field survey takes place by using standardized methods, along previously assigned transects, synchronized in time, fulfilled by national park wardens specially trained in advance. The survey takes place 6 times a year in every January, February, April, July, October and December on the weekend closest to the 15th of the month. During the examination the participants have to fill in an original registry book form, to which there is always a map of the area attached. In the registry book the characteristics of the life sign found (footprint, remain of prey, faeces, scrape, hairs, etc.), the conditions of the observation have to be registered and the location of the observation has to be indicated on the map. The registry book and other documentation, photo or sample are collected and analyzed continuously at the DoWBGM.
see first results here
Radio-telemetry survey of wolf and lynx:In order to make a map of the habitats suitable for large carnivores, their ecological needs have to be learnt in the first place. To get this information, environmental conditions and characteristics of the habitats chosen by the animals have to be examined. This determines the direction of the analysis of the monitoring results.
But to discover what are the decisive and the marginal needs for an animal at choosing a habitat, more detailed results have to be known. Radio telemetry survey can provide more details about the habits of wolf and lynx.
In the course of the radio-telemetry survey the animal is fitted with a radio collar. Thus it could be followed individually, and researchers are able to get information on its actual location and activity. This method of survey suits to discover which part of the territory is preferred by the specimen; when, where and how long it stays there, which are the places it avoids.
see first results here
Educational activity dissemination of information, changing public attitude:The successful protection of large carnivores and the implementation of conservation actions greatly depend on the approach of the general and professional public. Based on the folklore stories and legends people have a picture of large carnivores as bloodthirsty animals, presenting danger to humans and being definitely damaging. Such convictions are based on beliefs and usually lack any scientific bases. Changing people’s opinion is possible by providing them with the necessary information. We try to change the attitude of the public by sharing the latest scientific results with them in different ways: by giving lectures in graduate and postgraduate education, presentations at meetings, frequent appearance in the media, setting up informative signs and distributing brochures.
Unfortunately, these negative assumptions are often shared by the professional public, too. However, the attitude of these people may have a great influence on the distribution and re-colonization of large carnivores through the extent they apply conservation guidelines in the management of their forests and game plots. On the contrary, these managers are affected the most by the potential damage caused by large carnivores. By giving presentations, providing personal expertise, participating in professional events we try to provide the latest scientific results to them, finding compromises between the interests of nature conservation and wildlife management. We hope that by these presentations the habits of gamekeepers can be changed and they will accept the presence of large carnivores as necessary and useful members of the natural ecosystems.
see first results here
Creating and maintaining the Internet homepage of the topic:Internet is one of the fast growing divisions of mass communication. Therefore we can expect an increasing number of homepage visitors. On the homepage wanderers can get information about the project and also about the biology of the two large carnivore species, their status in Hungary, as well as the first results of the project, details of the LIFE Nature program and its Hungarian relations.
First results
Designing the species protection action plan (SPAP) of wolf and lynx:The two species protection action plans for protecting wolf and lynx are completed, but there has been some delay in their juridical acceptation. The main cause of this official delay is that there is no practice in writing and approving species protection action plans in Hungary. Due to this, there has not been for long a competent/responsible person or authority appointed directly in the legislation, who could carry out the approval and the endorsement.
See more details
Training of field monitoring participants:This action has actually been completed before the monitoring system started to work. Hereinafter a few meetings are organized annually to exchange experiences, to summarize the results, to improve the methods and to train the newcomers. Hopefully these meetings help to increase the effectiveness of the field monitoring system.