While the State Veterinary Authority is asking for wild boars to be hunted using otherwise banned methods in the south of Slovakia, activists in northern Slovakia are celebrating the birth of wolf cubs. With the use of photo traps, nature protection activists have been monitoring the wolves in Javorníky, a village close to the Czech border, for several years. According to Peter Drengubiak, the zoologist of the Kysuce protected area, this is the first confirmed case of wolf reproduction in this territory since the 1990s.
"It is something extraordinary to find cubs in this part of the Kysuce protected area. That's why this information is of such value to us," explains Drengubiak. As he added, this territory is suitable for the permanent presence of grey wolf and with these new cubs, the genetic fund, so important for the survival of this species, is being preserved.
The international project has been run in co-operation with the State Nature Protection Authority , the National Forest Centre and Movement DUHA from the Czech Republic. Jozef Bučko from the National Forest Centre in Zvolen sums up: "If the wolf has a suitable biotope, it represents a valuable addition to local fauna. On the other hand, wolves help reduce the over-preservation of hoofed game in areas suffering from this problem which is a great advantage today."
