European Wolf Newsletter Number 4 (December 1996)

European
Wolf
Newsletter
European Subgroup of the IUCN Wolf Specialist Group

News
from various countries

Projects
from various countries

Bulgaria
Heavy Persecution of Wolves

Croatia
Research Exchange Between Croatia and Minnesota
After Protection: Illegal Wolf-Killing Swells

France
Problems Through Livestock Depredation

Poland
Bialowieza Wolves

Romania
Successful Filming of Wild Wolves

Switzerland
Wolf-like Canid Caused Troubles

Bulgaria
Workshop to propose wolf management plan

France
Wolf Exhibition in Toulon

Italy
Monitoring of Causes of Wolf Mortality

Poland
Bialowieza Research Project

Portugal
Wolf conservation project

Romania
Carpathian Wolf Project

Dear friends of the wolf,

just coming back from the '2nd International Symposium on the Coexistence of Large Carnivores and Man' in Japan, my mind is still full of ideas and things to do in order to make life better for wolves. There we heard problems of destruction of habitat, of conflicts with livestock and of human ignorance in trying to find solutions to the conflicts between large carnivores and man. As diverse this earth is, the problems are similar everywhere. Wolves are still doing fairly well compared to other large carnivores. Some of the tiger species are almost extinct worldwide, just a few hundred individuals are left.
But there are also signs for a better future of wolves and other predators: In Romania, wolves have gained a protected status and in Portugal, an EU-Life project dealing with wolves is underway. More money than on any other project in Europe before is spent
on wolf conservation in Portugal now and it is good to see that things might finally change for the better. The first releases
of roe deer in the north of Portugal to restock the natural prey seem to be successful and we all hope this will continue.
For this edition, again several people helped getting it finished. An increasing number of biologists send their contributions to the European Wolf Newsletter and I sincerely hope it brings some benefit to those of you who want to keep contact with other researchers. Barbara Willis corrected the English once again and Europe Conservation France did the printing and shipping. Thank you very much for this support.

Best wishes

Christoph Promberger

For a long period of time, Romania was influenced by the traditional school which declared large predators, mainly the wolf, as the main enemy of game and livestock. Even if, in the last years, the opinion became a bit more moderate and wildlife managers accepted its right to exist, hunters and game keepers in the field hardly accept the existence of a large population of wolves. The education which they received and the evidences of wolf predation are not easy to overcome. Only the combination of large forests, human tolerance, and the inefficiency of the former political system gave chance to the survival of one of the most important wolf populations in Europe.
Although Romania signed the Bern Convention and started to implement legal aspects of the Convention by adapting its legislation, these measures haven't help a lot to decrease the human pressure on wolves. The main stakeholders only accept low numbers of wolves, if at all.
Under these conditions, an international co-operation for a wolf research and conservation project started in winter 1993. It was something new, a chance to perform the traditional research. With a holistic approach to the problem, from wolf ecology to social impacts of the presence of wolves on humans, this international co-operation brought a new dimension to wolf conservation. Researchers from eight countries have been involved so far and international TV-documentaries have brought wide attention to the project. With a much better technique of collecting data (for the first time in Romania we had access to radio-telemetry, project vehicles, night vision systems, GPS etc.), the efficiency and the results were spectacular for our conditions. It was sufficient enough to start to change the opinions of responsible wildlife managers. The involvement of locals in the project showed them another aspect of wolves and changed the way in which wolves are seen on a regional scale. As a result of this program, the Romanian government listed the wolf as a game species as of January 1996 with a protection period throughout the summer months. In September 1996, the new hunting law was passed which will be effective in two years. It includes the wolf as a completely protected species.

Ovidiu Ionescu, Forest Research and Management Institute ICAS, Wildlife Department,
Sos. Stefanesti 128, RO-Bucharest

Wolves are still heavily persecuted by hunters throughout the year with the intention of decreasing their numbers. The Forestry Committee, the national authority responsible for wolf management, estimates the number of wolves in the country to be 1,800. This has even resulted in the permission to take wolf pups from their den. At least the use of poison is officially forbidden by the Forestry Committee since April 1993. Nevertheless, there is still illegal using of poison: in summer '96, grifon vultures were found dead as a result of feeding at poisoned baits. Public attitudes, especially in rural areas, are still very negative towards wolves.

Josip Kusak, ms. sc., assistant of Djuro Huber at the Veterinary Faculty in Zagreb, worked five months this summer with Dave Mech's wolf study team in northern Minnesota (USA). Enjoying the company of Mike Nelson and the cozy environment of 'K-lab', Josip got expertise in all relevant aspects of wolf research: telemetry by air, truck, skiis, foot and even canoe, survey of wolf kills, capturing of wolves and deer, collection of scats. He also presented talks on Croatian wolves at the International Wolf Center in Ely. With new skills and intellectual input, Josip will now play a major role in creating the Croatian wolf management plan and solving other wolf related problems.

(Djuro Huber, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zagreb,
Heinzelova 55, HR-41000 Zagreb)

In the late 80s and early 90s, when a mean rate of five wolves were killed per year, we were alarmed at these numbers and started a campaign to protect wolves. During 1994, the 'year of the wolf', six wolves were killed in Gorski kotar alone, the western part of the wolf range. Legal protection as of May 1995 triggered even more killing. An estimated 15 wolves were killed illegally in the first year of the species' protection. As proof, the bodies of seven wolves have been retrieved. In spite of such a high mortality rate, the requests for permits to kill 15 wolves in southern and six wolves in western Croatia have been officially registered. The Croatian Wolf Group is struggling to promote a highly critical and scientific approach to such requests. Concurrently, about 140 damage compensation requests claiming 300 killed sheep and other domestic animals have been issued in the southern portion of the wolf range. It is said that wolves have no more natural prey anymore. In the western part of the wolf range, where there are only a few
sheep, some 113 wild ungulates have been reported as 'wolf damage' and used as a basis for requests to kill an additional six wolves. We knew that it might be easier to get wolves legally protected than to save them in practice but the problems exploded beyond expectation.

(Djuro Huber, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, HR-41000 Zagreb)

The two remaining packs in Mercantour National Park reached seven and five individuals, respectively, during last winter. Since then we had new data (including damage on livestock in new areas) on single individuals moving around in the southeast and north of the two packs. We also have evidence of reproduction in at least one of the two packs (four pups were observed). One of the two individuals seen 50 km north from the main pack was killed by a hunter. It was a two year old female. Compared to last year, damage of livestock is still increasing and more than 500 sheep have already been killed between January and the end of October 1996. The first step of genetical analysis obtained by Prof. Bouvet, and Drs. Taberlet and Gielly, revealed that no differences existed between the two individuals of the Mercantour population analyzed and Italian wolves. This did not change the position of the shepherd organizations and they still try to prove that the wolves have been reintroduced and therefore must be removed. Two battues without arms have been organized by the Prefet, but they did not reduce the damage. The next step requested soon may be to remove or kill some wolves.

(B. Lequette, M.-L. Poulle, T. Houard, and T. Dahier, Parc National de Mercantour, 23, rue d'Italie, F-06006 Nice cedex)

Bialowieza Primeval Forest (BPF) with its 1,450 km² is divided by the border fence between Poland and the Belorus Republic. Due to different management attitudes in these two parts of BPF, considerable differences in the density of wolves and average pack size were found during research in 1994-96. In the Belorussian part of BPF, wolves are persecuted and as a result, late winter density of wolves was between 9 and 15 wolves/1,000 km². Mean pack size was 2.7 to 3.2 individuals. In the Polish part of BPF, where wolves are protected, winter density of wolves are much higher (20 to 26 wolves/1,000 km²) and so is the mean pack size. Snow tracking and visual observations conducted in the Polish part of BPF revealed that there was a significant difference in group size of wolves between spring/summer and fall/winter periods. In spring/summer, wolves generally utilized the pack territory as individual wolves or in groups of two (65,2% of observations). During fall/winter, such small groups were found only in 38,4%, while the majority of observations (50,7%) consisted of groups of at least four wolves.

(H. Okarma and W. Jedrzejewski, Polish Academy of Science, Mammal Research Station, PL-17-230 Bialowieza)

Filming wolves in the wild has always been extremely difficult in Europe. Only a few good shots have been taken in all of Europe and all films about wolves in Europe have been made with captive wolves. In conjunction with the Carpathian Wolf Project (see PROJECT-column), two TV-documentaries about wolves in Romania were done during this summer. Thanks to a very special wolf pack which roams the area around the town of Brasov, one of the largest cities in Romania, we managed to film extensively the life of this pack. A Swiss/German production was able to install a remote camera near the rendezvous-site of this pack and filmed the raising of the pups for a whole week. Later in the summer, this production filmed several sequences of the wolves in the suburbs of Brasov. In July, a BBC team visited us with a special lowlight camera to film this particular pack. The wolves were very cooperative and proved to be real 'downtown-wolves': We filmed them walking down the main streets, river channels, on the motorways and railroad tracks in town and hunting rats and cats in the big garbage dumps. We predict that these wolves will soon be the most famous wolves in Europe.

(C. Promberger, P. Suerth, L. Petre, O. Ionescu, Munich Wildlife Society and ICAS Bucharest)

In 1995, an animal which was probably a wolf, appeared in the canton Valais close to the French and Italian border. 5,000 sheep graze there in the alpine meadows during summer, of which 117 have been killed by this animal between 1995 and April 1996. As wolves were not completely protected, the administration of the canton Valais decided to remove this animal. A warden who shot at the animal wounded its front leg in February '96. More than 50 hunters tracked the animal during ten days without any success. It was seen again thereafter and another hunter shot at it in April. Thereafter, the animal disappeared. As the hunters were ridiculed by the media, it became difficult to obtain more information. With the help of a remote camera, I took a picture of the animal. Its origin is unknown. Some hairs which were collected from a barbed wire and some scats were sent to France for genetic analysis. Since August 1996, the wolf is now totally protected in all of Switzerland. A permission to remove a wolf can be given only by the federal authority. Part of the damages (30-50%) will be reimbursed under the condition that the canton concerned covers the remaining sum. Last year, damages were partially covered by SBN and WWF, two nature conservation NGO's.

(Jean-Marc Landry, Viaduc 58, CH-2740 Moutier)

On December 15th and 16th, a workshop with international participation will be held in the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria. It is organized by Green Balkans and funded by EURONATURE. Goal of the workshop is to come up with an action plan for future wolf management activities. Main topics will be: status of wolves in Bulgaria, systems of damage compensation for livestock, educational programs about wolves, possibilities for a management plan, and the establishment of a Bulgarian wolfgroup.

In the context of the natural settlement of a small wolf population in Mercantour National Park, we set up an exhibition about wolves which was open from April 10th to October 31st. The aim of the exhibition was, above all, to give a better knowledge on the biology of this carnivore: morphology, social behavior, diet, predation phenomena. But the wolf is an animal so charged with myths and legends, so persecuted by man, that we also included topics such as wolves and children, the Gévaudan Beast, Little Red Ridinghood and werewolves. The relentlessness and the will of man to exterminate the species through hunting, trapping and poisoning are also widely mentioned; as well as the etymology of the word 'WOLF' in different European languages and the origin of the dog. The exhibition is made of 20 thematic boards and very rich material: prehistoric and antic articles; ex voto, parish bills and registers from the 18th and 19th centuries; herbarium sheets; wolf traps and anti-wolf collars; castings of the tracks of all carnivores and ungulates of the area. Over 10,000 people visited the exhibition.

(P. Orsini, Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 113, Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, F-8300 Toulon)

Researchers from the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale 'G. Caporale', Teramo, are still monitoring the causes of death in the wolf population of south-central Italy. An operative procedure has been standardized for necropsies of wolves retrieved dead from the field. Serological investigations have been performed on living wolves in order to reveal infectious diseases which could influence the dynamics and survival of wolf packs. To date, the presence of antibodies against Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), Canine Parvovirosis Virus (CPV-2), Canine Adenovirus (CAV-2), Leishmania, and Ehrlichia canis have been found in serum of several wolves. In particular, Canine Distemper and Parvovirosis could produce high rates of mortality in young animals which are unprotected by maternal antibodies. At the moment, the effects of such pathogens on wolf populations in Italy are still unknown. On the other hand, we are not aware of the roles played by wolves, foxes, and roaming dogs in maintaining these viruses in the wild. Further steps in the study will deal with theses two lines of research.

We are still tracking two radio-collared wolves. They are two females belonging to two neighboring packs. We assume they are the dominant females, because both restricted their movements dramatically in the beginning of May through the middle of July indicating that they had pups. Later, they left the densites and we actually found one of the dens in an enlarged fox den in a sandhill. We still conduct localizations of these wolves every day plus additionally one 5-day continuous 24-hour radio-tracking session per month. In the past winter we have done research to estimate the travel speed of radio-collared wolves in different habitats and surfaces (roads, frozen streams etc.) by comparing radio-locations with actually travelled distance (as estimated by snow-tracking). Funding of the project ended in June but we have submitted another proposal to start in January 1997. We hope to receive some money to continue the project. If so, we will try to radio-collar more wolves in a single pack (at least two or three) to study social relationships between members of the same pack. The most important goal of the project will be an estimation of the impact of wolf predation on ungulate populations. We plan to use radio-marked individuals as indicators to recover carcasses of prey killed by wolves.

(H. Okarma and W. Jedrzejewski, Polish Academy of Science,
Mammal Research Station, PL-17-230 Bialowieza)

An EU-Life project is being conducted in Portugal by a team of three insitutions (Institute of Nature Conservation I.C.N., Grupo Lobo, and Life and Environment Insititute I.A.V.). The main objective is the achievement of reliable data about the Portugese wolves in order to establish a management plan for wolves in Portugal. The project includes studies about wolf ecology with special reference to the feeding ecology, predator-prey relationships and the use of space and time. A second important part of the project is the conservation of the natural prey of wolves through actions such as the improvement of habitat conditions and the reintroduction of wild ungulates in wolf areas. Through this we intend to reduce the impact on livestock by offering a wider range of prey species. A third part of the project includes the monitoring of the status and distribution of wolves in Portugal with special reference to the sites of European Community interest (Habitats Directive).

(P. Carmo, I.C.N., F. Fonseca, Grupo Lobo, J. Vingada and A. Ferreira, I.A.V., project coordination: Instituto da Conservacio da Natureja, R. Filipe Folque nr. 46, 1, P-1000 Lisboa)

In this project, which is funded by EURONATURE, Jack Wolfskin Ltd., and various other organizations, three more wolves were caught and radio-collared during the fall trapping season of 1996. We now radio-track a total of seven wolves in five different packs. Most of these packs live hidden in the vast forests of the Carpathians. Due to the numerous sheep grazing during summer on the alpine meadows, almost all wolves have contact with humans, causing troubles with livestock depredation. We could, however, recognize big differences in the amount of depredation problems between different shepherd camps depending on the quality of livestock guarding dogs available. Four out of the five packs have raised pups throughout summer and at one pack we were able to count ten pups in late May. Survival rates will be determined as soon as the first big snow starts. The pack we call 'Downtown-pack' has kept on using the town of Brasov as an important foraging area. We observed them during the summer months a total of 80 times in town, crossing the most important motorways and railroad tracks of Romania and once walking back to the forest in the morning rush-hour in the midst of people. Now, during winter, we will focus on wolf predation and the importance of mortality through human hunting.

(C. Promberger, P. Sürth, and C. Roschak, Munich Wildlife Society, Linderhof 2, D-82488 Ettal, O. Ionescu, I. Munteanu, and L. Petre, ICAS, Wildlife Departement, Sos. Stefanesti 128, RO-Bucharest)

Carpathian Wolf Project - Annual Report 1995/96 (Available in English only. Munich Wildlife Society, Linderhof 2, D-82488 Ettal and ICAS Bucharest. 34 pages). Contains background information about large carnivores in Romania and all relevant information about the activities of the wolf research and conservation project in the Romanian Carpathians between July 1995 and June 1996.

Ecology and Conservation of Wolves in a Changing World (Proceedings of the Second North American Symposium on Wolves held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in August 1992. Available in English only. 620 pages. Editors: Ludwig Carbyn, Steven Fritts, and Dale Seip. Canadian Circumpolar Institute, ISBN 0-919058-92-2). This book is a collection of 55 articles which deal with practically everything what has to do with wolves: abundance, behavior, computer modeling, conservation, control, dispersal, ecology, historical evidence, genetics, management, movements, pathology, predator-prey dynamics, recovery, reintroduction, reproduction, status, survival, taxonomy, and wolf-human relationships.

Des loups et des hommes (Available in French with German chapter. Info-Nature Nr. 49, June 1996. LSPN, Avenue France 6, CH-1950 Sion. 15 pages). A leavlet about wolves in Europe and Switzerland and their chances to become part of the Swiss fauna again.

Le loup (The Wolf. Available in French only, b/w and color pictures, 80 pages. Produced by the Association pour le Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulon, 113, Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, F-8300 Toulon). Brochure from an exhibition (see NEWS-Column) about status of wolves in Europe, biology, its role in the ecosystem and its relation to humans.

Das Ende der grossen Hatz (The end of the big hunt. Available in German only. pp 149-164 in 'Kuenstler fuer die Natur', Artists for Nature, by Hans-Joachim Loewer, DA Verlag Das Andere. ISBN 3-922619-41-X). The book is a description of different projects sponsored by the initiative 'Artists for Nature'. One chapter deals with the Carpathian Wolf Project in Romania (see PROJECTS-column). It describes the general situation about wolves and gives a detailed insight into working conditions in a wolf research and conservation project.

Der Wolf - auf dem Weg zurueck in die Schweiz (The Wolf - on the way back to Switzerland. Available in German, French, and Italian. Produced by WWF Switzerland, Hohlstr. 110, CH-8010 Zürich, and SBN, Postfach, CH-4020 Basel). Leaflet about the status of wolf recovery in the Maritime Alps of France and Italy. Ten questions and answers give a brief overview over the what people want to know in relation to wolf recovery.

Der Wolf - Biologie und Management (The Wolf - biology and management. Available in German only. Unpubl. report, WGM, Linderhof 2, D-82488 Ettal, 116 pages, 15,- DEM). A comprehensive summary of the actual knowledge about wolves and the experiences with different management procedures worldwide. Was originally the second part of the Brandenburg wolf management plan.

Die Woelfe kehren zurück (Wolves are coming back. Available in German only. pp 102 - 107 in Das grosse Jugendbuch, Verlag Das Beste, by Christoph Promberger, ISBN 3-97070-639-2). This chapter in a book for youth deals with the recovery of wolves incentral Europe and gives a general overview about wolf biology and sociology written especially for kids under 18.

Ein Managementplan für Woelfe in Brandenburg (A management plan for wolves in Brandenburg. Available in German only. Unpubl. report, WGM, Linderhof 2, D-82488 Ettal, 116 pages, 15,- DEM). The analysis and planning part of the first European wolf management plan. Contains a detailed analysis of the recent history of wolves in the area, the natural habitat, livestock production, the socioeconomic background of wolf management and the legal situation in Brandenburg, east Germany. Based on this, the actual plan with goals and guidelines, the organization of wolf management, measures to be taken, and a step-by-step plan give an overview of how coexistence between wolves and humans in Brandenburg can be possible.

Page published by Oliver Matla in 1997
Contents taken from the European Wolf Newsletter, edited by the European Wolf Networkand published with assistance of Europe Conservation France.

Table of contents
	Preface (by Christoph Promberger)
	Importance of International Cooperation for East and Central Europe (by Ovidiu Ionescu)
	Books, Brochures, Leaflets Latest European Wolf Resources