engleski

From protection by law to conservation through acceptance: lessons from the Croatian case of wolf management in Europe

What is the difference if a sheep is killed by unprotected or by protected predator, wolf in this case? In Croatia we learned the both lessons. The change from unprotected to protected status happened in 1995. The author personally wrote the proposal to protect the wolf. Now he is lobbing to soften the protection. Why? Wolves always ate meat, wild prey or livestock, whatever was easier. When wolf is not legally protected the damage it does is counted as a part of harsh nature, like lightning or disease. Shepherds or hunters are allowed to try to kill as many wolves as they can. There are no damage inspections and no damage compensations. There is little to none media interest. Wolves can stand this persecution until their reproductive capacity is exceeded, e.g. by use of poisons or by too many guns and roads. Of course the lack of prey is very detrimental too. When protected wolf kills anything, always the government body is blamed and hated. Compensations are always too slow and too low, but the total sum paid is growing dramatically. Media are full of bloody stories and rarely on the side protected wolves. There are always too many wolves. Locals continue to kill as many wolves as they can, including occasional use of poisons. Nobody pays fines. The possible way out of black corner includes: Regulated hunting to satisfy the emotional gap of predatory man and to decrease the number of wolves in the most critical regions. Instead of damage compensations, introduce the subsidies for the risk of farming in the wolf range and support better flock protection measures. Increase the natural prey base. In Croatia we are now struggling to introduce this third model. The workshops with all interest groups are underway and the process is hard and slow but is definitely leading in this direction.

wolf; Croatia; management; public attitude

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