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For the wolf hunting season that began in 2020-2021, the Ministry of the Environment has approved a hunting limit for 175 of these animals. This again ignites a spark between the two camps: Animal handlers believe 45 percent. the higher limit than last year threatens the extinction of the wolf population as a protected species, the opinion of farmers, especially sheep farmers, is the opposite: the increasingly insulting wolves should still be hunted more intense.
The researcher at the Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Agriculture (VMU ŽŪA), who has probably acquired the most experience in the life of the wolf in Lithuania, dr. Renata Špinkytė – Bačkaitienė affirms that in the current situation the most important thing would be for society: to perceive and accept the wolf as a representative of the world of wildlife with the characteristics of predator biology, without idealizing and demonizing this beast. According to the scientist, society is currently deviating from perception: some people exaggerate this predator and others are too hostile to it. However, not everyone should be guided by emotions, but listen to the recommendations of experts: take care of wolves, regulate their population and compensate for the damage caused by these animals.
– You represent a group of research scientists from the Vytautas Magnus University who counted the wolf families and presented a conclusion to the Ministry of the Environment. So how many wolves are there in Lithuania?
–In previous years, wolves and hunters counted wolves based on traces found in the snow. However, the method used is not exact and is no longer suitable for winters with light snow. During the annual survey, not all wolves were recorded or, on the contrary, the same wolf could be “counted” several times. Therefore, the breadth of the putative population ranged from 300 to 700 units.
This year will be the third season that wolves are counted as families. Researchers at the Vytautas Magnus ŽAA University carry out genetic, age and reproduction studies of all hunted wolves. The results of genetic testing of wolf cubs hunted during a season allow the identification of unrelated families who married the cubs that year. Thus, it was found that the juveniles hunted during the 2019-2020 hunting season came from 44 different families. Another 10 families were selected during the observations throughout the year. These observations are recorded in the electronic database created by the State Service for Protected Areas (www.biomon.lt/maps/index.php) and are available to anyone who wishes to contribute to completing this database.
Taking into account the biologically possible distances from family territories, it was found that at least 54 wolf families lived on the territory of Lithuania. However, it is completely incorrect to say that only 54 wolf families live in Lithuania. Only in a few, even large forest ranges, wolf cubs that could genetically reveal an unrelated commander were not hunted last year. When recording wolves and their activities throughout the year, it is also quite difficult to prove the presence of a family of wolves, that is, to observe at least 4 wolves in a group. Therefore, we say: There are at least 54 wolf families in Lithuania, as we have no information to confirm a different fact.
Since 3-4 juveniles per litter survive through fall, a hunting limit of 175 wolves has been set.
– Surprised animal keepers argue that the amount of compensation paid to farmers for damage caused by wolves has not changed this year. Does this lead to the conclusion that the actual damage they cause is not increasing?
– In fact, the situation is not clear. Currently, according to a project funded by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, we are conducting a study on changes in the diet of wolves and the damage that these predators cause to farm animals. The farmer who has suffered the damage must first inform the local elder. Some of these notifications enter the information system, are analyzed, processed and compensation is paid to the farmer. However, a person is often told that their case does not meet the conditions for compensation for damages, because the animals that grazed in an unfenced area did not have the labels required by the State Food and Veterinary Service. , etc. Such cases are not included in the statistics. However, other people simply anticipate the loss and do not even ask for compensation. The project will help reveal the proportions of these three groups and the extent to which the cases of compensation paid correspond to the real situation.
– It is likely that the wolves are mythologized because we know little about them. What does the term “wolf family” mean?
–According to the laws of wolf biology, the nucleus of the gang (family) is made up of two leaders: an alpha male and an alpha female. The cubs born in that year coexist with them, as well as the children, uncles, aunts and other relatives of the previous commanders. In Lithuania, groups of wolves of several wolves are usually recorded, but there are also dozens.
Usually only one alpha pair breeds in the family, although there may be more sexually capable animals. The alpha male ensures that other males do not stick to his female by physically knocking them down, and the female tries to psychologically influence other females not to approach the alpha male. In a healthy population, close relatives of wolves do not appear to be attractive on their own. For the second year in a row, only wolves with unrelated parents are found in the genetically investigated Lithuanian wolf population.
“Are the wolves really doing more damage lately?”
– There have always been wolves and signs of their presence in Lithuania, only before that we did not have the dissemination of information that we have today. Almost all the events related to the wolves are now coming to light. The lifestyle of these beasts is really changing. And he is replaced by none other than man. Recall that even three decades ago, there were incomparably more places in Lithuania that were rarely visited and that were not touched by permanent activities, their own cars were not driven en masse into the depths of the forest to spend their free time or simply to seduce a dog, the care of agricultural crops was not so intensive. In other words, there was plenty of room for the wolves to live nearby without seeing the man and without smelling him. In recent years, wolves have had to adapt to human activity in the immediate vicinity. In the past, domestic animals were kept on collective farms or under the care of a shepherd, and their own animals were close to home. Wolves often attack flocks of sheep, and in the past sheep were raised by a very rare country man.
These beasts are more daring at dusk because they probably feel that man sees worse at that time. Our colleague conducted a study using a thermal imaging camera to prove the fact that wolves are returning to their hunted prey. In fact, the two wolves returned to the euthanized animal the following night, lying in a cereal field just two hundred yards away, waiting for people to leave the herd of animals, with the wolf’s prey especially intact yesterday, and capable predators. to complete your feast. This certainly wouldn’t have happened during the day.
– Is it correct to say that the wolf is a forest sanitary and therefore useful?
“The wolf, of course, will first catch the slowest moving prey.” But it can be not only an old or lame animal, but also a growing puppy. Therefore, the term “forest sanitary” is not precise. Wolves feed on what traditionally corresponds to the perception of the food source in their brains. On the other hand, it has been observed that wolves not only take over the experience acquired by their parents, but also adapt and learn as circumstances change. Here, when a new species, say, the deer, which the wolves of that place have not seen, has brought into the wolf’s habitat, the predators will not hunt them for some time, because they will not identify with the food. In fact, wolves tend to feed on the most abundant prey in their habitat, which can be a red deer, a white hare or even a wild turkey.
– What is the experience of other European countries in the conservation of the wolf population? How should our farms and the state behave?
– Most of the tensions are due to the “relationship” between small farms and wolves. A large company generally calculates: either invest in all possible instruments or withdraw if you think such an investment is not worth it.
Just as there is no shopping center in Lithuania without alarm, there should be no pasture for sheep without proper protection, first of all, without a multi-lane electric shepherd.
Since wolves sometimes cannot be protected from wolves, a state-regulated just compensation mechanism is certainly needed. Other European countries have not invented anything better either: wolves suffer losses everywhere and are compensated by the state.
If man did not stop the growth of the number of wolves, reaching a certain predatory density, diseases would spread, parasites would run out of food and animals would fall from exhaustion. In addition, as the number of wolves increases, they are forced to occupy new less favored areas. In this way, wolves are forced to get closer to humans, and inevitably the number of cases of damage caused by wolves increases. Therefore, more attention should be paid to areas where slaughter of animals occurs periodically. A legal mechanism must be established to respond promptly to damage caused by wolves and to hunt at the site of damage. This would create an association for unwanted predators that pets are not a food source but a danger. Hunting organized in this way would be the most efficient and would not disturb the wolves that live in the forests, stay away from humans, and feed on wildlife.
