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Wolf conservation in Poland – 25 years of solving problems and revealing benefits

Sabina Nowak, Ph.D. and Robert W. Mysłajek, Ph.D.

1University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology andAssociation for Nature „Wolf”, Poland

Photo: P. Sroga

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Legal status of wolves in Poland

  • 1995 – full protection in most of the country
  • 1997 – implementation of the state damage compensation system
  • 1998 – full protection in the whole country
  • 2004 – Poland joined the EU and implemented the Habitats Directive

Photo Lech Jędras

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Legal status of wolves in Poland

  • Wolf culling possible on the basis of permission issued by the General Director for Environmental Protection
  • Conditions for culling same as derogation (art. 16 of HD), for a single or several wolves, in response to the application of a local community or farmers or vets
  • Reasons for culling: public safety, multiple depredation on livestock, shortening suffering (diseases, vehicle collisions), hybridization with dogs
  • In 2022: applications for a total of 100 wolves / permissions for 44 wolves / 4 wolves killed

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Wolf population development in Poland

2000/2001 2020

110 - 130 (~120) packs

480 - 660 (~570) wolves

Source: Jędrzejewski et al. 2002, AfN WOLF, 2018

1886 wolves, EC report 2019 r.

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Poland

Italy

protected species

protected, but regularly hunted according

to HD derogations

game species, but year-round protected

game species, hunting quota

game species or pest, no hunting quota

Poland - the source for natural wolf recovery in continental Europe

Fabbri et al., 2007, Czarnomska et.al., 2013

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M.

Nine wolf populations (management units) in Europe

three in Poland (Baltic WP, CEWP and Capathian WP)

Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe IUCN (2018), Linnel and Cretois, 2018

Wolf population in Europe (Boitani et al. 2018)

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Border fences dividing the Baltic wolf population

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(Photo by R. Skibińska, OKO Press)

(Photo by Polish Border Guard website)

Border fences dividing the Baltic wolf population

4-5 m high wall + razor blade wire

​

1,307 km long

​

529 km Lithuania – Belarus

45 km Lithuania – Russia

150 km Latvia – Belarus

90 km Latvia – Russia

114 km Estonia – Russia

199 km Poland – Kaliningrad

180 km Poland – Belarus

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(Photo by R. Skibińska, OKO Press)

(Photo by Polish Border Guard website)

Border fences dividing the Baltic wolf population

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Compensations paid by the State to farmers

for damage caused by protected species in Poland

​

.

Amount for beavers 18.5 times higher than for wolves

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Compensations paid by the State to farmers

for damage caused by protected species in Poland

​

.

In 2022: 7,360 € 110,376 € 439,819 € 886,719 € 8,105 653 €

Amount for beavers 18.5 times higher than for wolves

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2471 domestic animals killed by wolves in Poland in 2022

Source: General Directorate for Environmental Protection

Wolf depredation on domestic animals

12%

17%

4%

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Number of livestock vs. wolf depredation

  • Cattle population in 2022 - 6 mln 450 thousand

Wolves kill ~ 250 cattle (mostly calves) per year – 0.004% of the stock

  • Annually, 3% of cattle and almost 6% of calves die from various causes
  • Sheep population – 266,370

Wolves kill ~ 1,350 sheep per year - 0.5% of the stock

Other mortality factors accounted for over 35% of individuals of

  • Goats population – 59,5 thousand, wolf depredation – 0.05% of the stock

​

  • Horse population – 156,6 thousand, wolf depredation – 0.007% of the stock

​

  • Poultry ~ 600 mln

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Damage prevention

Guidbooks, websites and training for farmers

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Damage prevention

Prevention measures (electric fences, fladry sets, LGD) are provided

to farmers by NGOs and governmental agencies

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Dogs depredation on livestock

Dogs kill at least 284 livestock (sheep, cattle, poultry, farm deer) per year (conservative estimates)

Source: RDEP Poznań

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Source of natural food for wolves in Poland

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

Abundant populations of wild ungulates in forests and on arable lands

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

Wild ungulates in Poland

Roe deer – 918,000

Red deer – 293,000

Wild boars – 55,500

Moose – 33,200

Fallow deer (alien sp. – 35,500

​

European beavers – 142,500

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Wild ungulates in the wolf diet in Poland

  • 21 study areas
  • 6,199 wolf feaces
  • from 1985 to 2020

Percentage of wild ungulates in the wolf diet in Polish forests

Photo: A. Wajrak

Range: 54 – 98% of consumed biomass

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Roe deer and wild boars: 60 – 70 % of consumed biomass

Jędrzejewski i in. 1992, 2000, 2012, Nowak i in. 2005, 2011, Mysłajek et al. 2018

Fot. S. Mendel

Wild ungulates in the wolf diet in Poland

Wild boars up to 42% of food biomass

​

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Beavers in the wolf diet across Poland

  • 21 study areas
  • 6,199 scats
  • from 1985 to 2020

Percentage of food biomass

Up to 35% of food biomass

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Beavers in the wolf diet across Poland

Beaver density individuals/km2

Beaver consumption by wolves -

ecosystem service when considering the costs of compensation for beaver damage (also in crops)

8,105 653 €

Steady increase in the beaver population density

Yanuta et al. (2022) Journal of Environmental Management

A. Sulej

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. Kalisz Pomorski

Annual costs of forest protection against deer browsing is over 30 mln € in Poland

Wolf predation on ungulates as ecosystem services

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Wolves with GPS-GSM collars

24 wolves in 2014-2023

17 resident wolves (10 breeders, 7 subadults)

Warsaw

Wroclaw

Poznan

Gdansk

Cracow

Bialystok

Lublin

Szczecin

Bydgoszcz

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Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

A wolf chasing the roe deer herd on a field

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

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. Kalisz Pomorski

Compensations for farmers for damage caused by crop-riding wild ungulates (mostly wild boars) increase (in 2021 - 32 mln €)

Wolf predation on wild ungulates as ecosystem services

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Wolves can limit the spread of diseases

  • Wild boars are considered as agents of the spreading of African swine fever (ASF)
  • Wolf diet includes up to 40% of wild boars (food biomass)

Szewczyk et al. 2021

  • In 2023 the cost of the ASF eradication - 38,2 million € incl. 27,5 million EUR for hunters for shooting wild boars

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Wolves can limit the spread of diseases

  • Wild boars are considered as agents of the spreading of African swine fever (ASF)
  • Wolves find and kill or scavenge on wild boars that died from ASF
  • After passing through the digestive tract of the wolf, the ASF virus is destroyed

Szewczyk et al. 2021

In 2023 the cost of eradication ASF

is 38,2 million € incl. 27,5 million EUR for hunters

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Wolves can limit the spread of diseases

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

Wolves remove carrion of wild animals (e.g. roadkills), that can also be a source of pathogens

Photo: S. Nowak

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Wolves as sentinels of compliance with law

. Kalisz Pomorski

Fot. Krzysztof Czuj

GPS-marked wolves allow the identification of farmers who do not comply with sanitary regulations

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Wolves as sentinels of compliance with law

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

Carrion of dead catlle illegally disposed, scavenged by wolves

Photo: S. Nowak

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Wolves as sentinels of compliance with law

Photo: Krzysztof Antczak

The collared wolf carrying a carrion from the poultry farm

Photo: S. Nowak

Photo: S. Nowak, R. Mysłajek

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Wolf predation on free-ranging dogs as ecosystem service

. Kalisz Pomorski

  • In Poland, 140,000 of free-ranging dogs in forests

​

  • Average density of free-ranging dogs reach in some regions 300 dogs per 100 km2

​

  • Dogs kill 33,000 wild (mostly game) animals per year

(very conservative estimates)

(Photo taken by a camera trap in a forest in the estern Poland)

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Thank you for your attention

Photo: A. Adamczewski