As reported by the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday, Minister Simonas Gentvilas signed the order, which sets the mentioned limit during the hunting season from October 15 to March 31 next year.
Also this year, the growth factor, according to which the hunting limits are calculated, was increased, this was decided by monitoring the growth of the population.
According to the ministry, the decision on the wolf hunting limit was made after taking into account the monitoring data of the wolf population, the needs for the protection of the species and the number of wolf families calculated by scientific research.
In order for wolves to be hunted in proportion to their natural abundance, the limit is not proposed to be divided into districts.
According to the ministry, the preparation of the project was basically based on the genetic and productivity studies of wolves hunted in 2022-2023, conducted by scientists of the Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) Academy of Agriculture.
“Research shows that the number of wolf families is growing: there are at least 91 wolf families on the territory of Lithuania. According to the Wolf Protection Plan, if there are more than 62 wolf families, the use of the population is planned in such a way as to ensure its even reduction and maintenance of 32-62 families within the limits”, the report states.
According to the Ministry, a hunting limit equal to or greater than the annual forecasted population growth is set, after consulting with independent scientific and other interested institutions, whether the proposed set limit will not prevent the achievement of the long-term goal of wolf population protection and management.
When planning the hunting limit, VDU scientists recommended taking into account the fact that the genetic, age, reproduction and distribution studies of the wolf population conducted in recent years show a stable or improving population condition and an increasing number of wolves.
During the last four hunting seasons, when setting the hunting limit, the number of breeding families was multiplied by the average increase in neighboring countries – 3.25, but using this conversion factor, the growth of the wolf population was observed throughout this period.
According to the ministry, it is likely that the average increase of 3.25, which was found in more northern countries, does not correspond to the condition of the wolf population breeding in better natural conditions.
In order to stop the further growth of the wolf population, the scientists of VDU proposed to cautiously increase the average increase factor used to calculate the hunting limit for this hunting season to 3.75 this year.
The change after the adjustment of the proposed increase average coefficient will be monitored and this coefficient will be adjusted accordingly when setting the wolf hunting limit for the following year.
Once the wolf hunting limit for the season is used up, it is terminated earlier. The previous wolf hunting season ended on March 2 for this reason.
According to the Hunting Rules, the wolf hunting limit is approved by the Minister of the Environment, based on the principles established in the Wolf Protection Plan, in order to ensure a favorable conservation status of the wolf species.
The damage inflicted on farm animals by wolves has been similar in recent years. Until September 12, 2023, 112,908 euros were paid in compensation for the damage caused to farm animals by wolves, until September 20, 2022 – 127,137 euros, in 2021 – 100,401 euros of compensations for farm animal breeders.
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2024-10-03 10:24:38
