Kėdainiai found a new place for bison

However, farmers suffer losses not only due to these state-protected animals, whose damage has decreased by more than 45 percent in recent years, when part of the bison moved to Telšiai “Žvėrinčiai”.

Farmers also count the losses caused by wild boar, deer, red deer, which increased up to 13 times.

Addressed the ministry

The heads of the Kėdainiai district municipality petitioned the Ministry of the Environment for damage caused by bison to farmers. At a remote meeting of district leaders with Environment Minister Simon Gentville and other Ministry employees, the transfer of bison and other relevant issues were discussed.

The advisor to the Minister of the Environment, professional zoologist and well-known nature photographer, Marius Čepulis, informed the residents of Kėdainiai that in Varėna, in an area of ​​100 ha, the construction of fences for bison will soon begin, to which they close 50 of these large animals from the Kėdainiai district are scheduled to move next winter.

Currently, there is no possibility of reducing the herd of Kėdainiai bison, because the “Žvėrinčius” of Žemaitija is already full. The Panevėžys bison is also overpopulated and reconstruction is planned.

Also, it is best to catch bison and plan your relocation operations, especially in winter.

Kėdainiai bison are a priority

According to M. Čepulis, the bison will first move to Varėna from the Kėdainiai district. This area is a priority for the Ministry of the Environment, as bison perched on mountains of white phosphorous plaster cause the most damage.

“They got there when they were captured, not of their own free will, and now they don’t know how to escape from there and they do quite a bit of damage in that small area.

The whole problem is that most of them live there in a very narrow area.

Bison are not a big problem in the Panevėžys district. There is a herd of 50 bison, and in the Kėdainiai district there are two herds: one is larger, more than 100 bison and the other, 40.

We are consulting with specialists on how to try to repel a large part of the herds from that narrow “corridor” or through Nevėžis or Via Baltica so that they spread out and are not in that particular place, so that they spread over a further area big. “, said M. Čepulis, adding that being in one place mainly harms bison. They poison rape, they have very little surface area, they suffer from their genetics, they cannot guarantee the quality of the population.

Last year, losses caused by bison in the Kėdainiai district amounted to more than 42 thousand. 885 euros, in 2019 – 78 thousand. 802 euros, in 2018 – 78 thousand. 924 euros.

Bison are conservative

M. Čepulis emphasized that the biggest problem with bison is in their conservative habits.

“They are already such beasts: if they have already sat in one place, they are sitting there, so it is difficult to disperse their herds.” This was confirmed by Polish and Romanian scientists, with whom we spoke about the bison, ”said M. Čepulis.

Environment Minister S. Gentvilas confirmed that about 50 bison will be moved from Kėdainiai to Varėna, but, as already mentioned, this can only be done next winter, probably early next year.

Although farmers in the Varėna region are not very happy with the ministry’s plans, relocating the bison to their country would solve another problem. According to M. Čepulis, in the Varėna district, the Lithuanian bison would get in contact with “friends” from Poland and Belarus, so its population would recover.

Damage is estimated in tens of thousands

In the Kėdainiai district, more than 20 farms suffer from bison every year. The bison causes losses in 30-37 fields, but the good news is that at least the transfer of part of the bison to Žvėrinčiai has significantly reduced the losses suffered by farmers.

“Last year, the losses caused by bison in the Kiniadainiai district amounted to more than 42 thousand. 885 euros, in 2019 – 78 thousand. 802 euros, in 2018 – 78 thousand. 924 euros.

The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania will compensate the damage caused by the bison.

As bison are protected animals, the Ministry covers 100 percent of the damage caused to farmers, ”Ieva Matyžiūtė, head of the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Kėdainiai District Municipality, told Rinkos Square.

Losses caused by other game animals increase

In recent years, however, it is not just bison that have worried farmers. Losses of other game animals and even birds have increased significantly in the past year.

Losses caused by wolves in 2018 in K distritodainiai district amounted to 1,000. 474 euros, in 2019 – 1 thousand. 937 euros, in 2020 – 1 thousand. 231 euros.

Meanwhile, the losses suffered by other animals hunted last year were much higher than in previous years: in 2018 they amounted to 7 thousand. 499 euros, in 2019 – 1 thousand. 578 euros, and in the previous one, up to 20 thousand. 712 euros.

Losses must be compensated by groups of hunters.

“Although the wild boar population in the district has decreased, other game animals, red deer and roe deer, are causing damage to agricultural crops.

If the damage is caused by game animals, it is compensated by the hunters club / club, whose hunting areas include farmers’ fields.

So far this year we have received only a few applications for damage caused by hunted animals, but not by bison, ”said I. Matyžiūtė.

Problems with birds too

Another problem is the damage that birds cause to agricultural crops.

“Damage caused to birds by crops is not calculated, evaluated or compensated, but last year a farmer asked the Kėdainiai District Municipality Management Commission to assess the damage caused by game animals. .

So far, the position of the Ministry is only that we need to register these cases and provide information on such cases, so that in the future the methodology for calculating the damage caused by hunting to agricultural, livestock and livestock crops can be reviewed. forest and damage caused. birds can not only be registered but also paid, ”said the head of the municipality’s Directorate of Agriculture and Environment, who suggested that representatives of the ministry also pay attention to this problem.

We must pay tribute to nature

The Minister of the Environment S. Gentvilas and other representatives of the Kėdainiai municipality discussed other relevant issues for our district, and when talking about the need to review the methodology to calculate the damage to farmers due to animal losses, he recalled :, the beast it has to be fed somewhere, we cannot completely ignore it, a part has to be given away. “