This is the second documented case of illegal shooting of wolves in the Czech Republic. The first demonstrably shot animal was discovered last year in a ditch near Konětop in the Mělník region, they did not find the perpetrators.
–
The dead wolf, which they found on November 8 by the road between Duba and Ždírec, has, according to X-rays and an initial examination, the remains of a bullet in the area of the head and crown. An autopsy performed by experts from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Veterinary and Pharmaceutical University in Brno is to determine whether they were the cause of the animal’s death.
–
Genetic analysis confirmed that it is an animal from the so-called Central European lowland population – it therefore belongs to the wolves that came to the Czech Republic from the area of German Lusatia. The relationship with the pack, which has been moving in the Kokořín region for a long time, is being determined.
–
“Only a few dozen wolves live in the Czech Republic and the fact that someone shoots such rare animals is really shameful. But it is unfortunately not new that beasts and predators are falling victim to poachers in our country. This spring, the Old lynx was shot in the Beskydy Mountains. “A rare red kite predator, a sea eagle in Litoměřice, was hotly poisoned and the list could continue. Unfortunately, the police failed to find the culprit in any of the cases. I hope that the police will actually find him this time, just because it is the second case in the region.” added František Pelc, the director of the agency.
–
In the protected landscape area Kokořínsko – Mácha region, wolves have been present since 2014. According to Pelc, the presence of large carnivores can arouse resentment among livestock breeders, but it does not assume that they are the ones who shoot wolves.
–
“The state compensates breeders for any damage, it is possible to obtain funding for the preventive security of herds. Experience from Germany shows that good security can avert 80 to 95 percent of wolf attacks,” Pelc said, noting that wolves play an important role in Czech nature.
–
“They help reduce the number of overpopulated wild boar, deer and roe deer, which cause damage to forests and fields in the billions of crowns a year. According to research, wild animals make up more than 98 percent of wolf food,” he said.
—
