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‘A pack of wolves was probably going hunting.’

AUTHOR Maja Korošec

An employee of the Slovenian State Forests came across an interesting scene near the hamlet of Stružnica in the Kočevje region. He met wolves, which he managed to photograph. He believes the troop was most likely going hunting. What exactly is the possibility of a beast suddenly appearing in front of a man, and how dangerous can an encounter be?

PHOTO: Đuro Lukačević Lukačević first saw a wolf in the forest.

Đuro Lukačević is employed by the Slovenian State Forests as a truck driver. He has been transporting wood from the forests for 11 years, so he is used to meeting animals. Last week was especially interesting as he met as many as three wolves at once. He was driving from Banja Loka towards Stružnica for wood and noticed three wolves near a hunting lodge in the forest, by the road. One was smaller, most likely a female, Lukačević predicts: “Then they came from the forest to the forest road and crossed it. I photographed them from a truck.” Although he did not turn off the truck, the wolves were not afraid of anything. “When they were on the road, they just looked towards me and then on the left side of the host they calmly continued on their way. As if I wasn’t there,” he added.

Although Lukačević did not stop with the truck, the wolves were not intimidated.

Lukačević did not meet the wolf for the first time

Asked if he was scared of them, he laughed from the heart: “Of course I wasn’t scared of them. But it’s really nothing like that. Even if I got out of the truck, they wouldn’t attack me, but they would withdraw. If in front of you he finds one, escapes, if there are more, they move slowly forward. “

Lukačević knows their behavior well, as he meets them two to three times a year. He also tried to take photos of them four months ago, but they escaped him: “I got out of the truck, but they were in a hurry and ran away.”
There is no case in Slovenia where a wolf attacks a human.

‘The wolf is an extremely careful animal’

It was confirmed by Rok Černe from the Slovenian Forest Service. Therefore, it is very unlikely that we will see or meet him in his natural environment. “The wolf is afraid of man and will withdraw from him. So far in Slovenia we have not recorded his aggressive behavior towards man. But if we come across him, it is best to stay calm and enjoy the rarely seen scene,” suggests Černe.

There is a strict social hierarchy in the wolf tropics. At the top are the alpha male and female. If either of them dies, the troop may disintegrate, but in most cases a new one is quickly established.

But wolves are not the only animals Lukačević encounters on his business forest journey. In addition to hinds, deer, deer and wild pigs, he also encountered bears several times. “I see wolves more often than bears, as bears‘ sniff ’it even faster,” he laughed. He has never had the unpleasant experience of attacking him or anything like that with any animal. However, he himself warns that you must always be careful, because you never know when an animal feels threatened and attacks you.
We now have twice as many wolves in Slovenia as in 2010.

The wolf population in Slovenia is growing

According to the latest estimates of genetic monitoring, about 80 wolves live in 12 tropics in Slovenia, some of which we share with neighboring Croatia. The population is growing and has doubled compared to 2010, Černe explained. We were interested in whether we had any new wolves or cubs this year, but Černe replied that the size of the litters could not be determined by systematic monitoring: “In most tropes, the presence of cubs has been confirmed by audible howling.” So there are puppies, but how many there are, you can’t tell.

One troop in Slovenia lives on about 400 square kilometers - the size depends mainly on the availability of food. The troop always defends its territory from other wolves. We have already found cases where wolves have killed other wolves for their territory.
—Rok Černe, Slovenian Forest Service

How often does a wolf come to a settlement and how dangerous is it then?

The wolf approaches the settlements solely for the purpose of preying on farm animals, especially small ruminants. It will only attack them in the area of ​​distribution if they are not adequately protected. “By the end of August this year, we have detected 111 attacks by wolves on farm animals, 80 cases on small ruminants, 24 on cattle and 8 on horses and donkeys,” explained Černe, who is convinced that fences are very effective against wolf attacks. . “

‘Trop volkov se je verjetno odpravljal na lov’

AVTOR Maja Korošec

Zaposleni v Slovenskih državnih gozdovih je v bližini zaselka Stružnica na Kočevskem naletel na zanimiv prizor. Srečal se je z volkovi, ki mu jih je uspelo fotografirati. Meni, da se je trop najverjetneje odpravljal na lov. Kakšna je pravzaprav možnost, da se pred človekom nenadoma znajde zver in kako nevarno je lahko srečanje?

FOTO: Đuro LukačevićLukačević je volka najprej zagledal v gozdu.

Đuro Lukačević je pri Slovenskih državnih gozdovih zaposlen kot voznik tovornjaka. Iz gozdov les prevaža že 11 let, zato je srečanja z živalmi že navajen. Prejšnji teden je bilo še posebej zanimivo, saj je srečal kar tri volkove naenkrat. Peljal se je iz Banje Loke proti Stružnici po les in v bližini lovske koče v gozdu, ob cesti, opazil tri volkove. Eden je bil manjši, najverjetneje samica, predvideva Lukačević: “Potem so iz gozda prišli na gozdno cesto in jo prečkali. Fotografiral sem jih iz tovornjaka.” Čeprav tovornjaka ni ugasnil, se volkovi niso prav nič bali. “Ko so bili na cesti, so zgolj pogledali proti meni, nato pa so po levi strani hoste mirno nadaljevali pot. Kot da me ni” je dodal.

Čeprav se Lukačević ni čisto ustavil s tovornjakom, se volkovi niso niti malo ustrašili.

Lukačević se ni prvič srečal z volkom

Na vprašanje, ali se jih je ustrašil, se je iz srca nasmejal: “Seveda se jih nisem ustrašil. To pa res ni nič takega. Tudi če bi stopil iz tovornjaka, me ne bi napadli, ampak bi se umaknili. Če se pred tabo znajde en sam, pobegne, če jih je več, se počasi pomikajo naprej.”

Lukačević dobro pozna njihovo vedenje, saj jih vsako leto sreča od dva- do trikrat. Pred štirimi meseci si jih je prav tako prizadeval fotografirati, a so mu ušli: “Izstopil sem iz tovornjaka, a so zelo pohiteli in zbežali.”
V Sloveniji ni primera, da bi volk napadel človeka.

‘Volk je izjemno previdna žival’

Je potrdil Rok Černe z Zavoda za gozdove Slovenije. Zato je zelo majhna verjetnost, da ga bomo videli oziroma srečali v njegovem naravnem okolju. “Volk se človeka boji in se mu bo umaknil. Do zdaj v Sloveniji nismo zabeležili njegovega napadalnega vedenja do človeka. Če pa že naletimo nanj, je najbolje, da ostanemo mirni in uživamo v redko videnem prizoru,” predlaga Černe.

V volčjih tropih velja stroga socialna hierarhija. Na vrhu sta alfa samec in samica. Če kateri od njiju pogine, lahko trop razpade, vendar se v večini primerov hitro vzpostavi novi.

A volkovi niso edine živali, ki jih na svoj službeni gozdni poti srečuje Lukačević. Poleg košut, srn, jelenov in divjih prašičev je nekajkrat naletel tudi na medveda. “Volkove vidim večkrat kot medvede, saj jo medvedi še hitreje ‘popihajo’,” se je zasmejal. Z nobeno živaljo še ni imel neprijetnih izkušenj, da bi ga napadla ali kaj podobnega. Vendar tudi sam opozarja, da moraš biti vedno previden, saj nikoli ne veš, kdaj se žival počuti ogroženo in te napade.
V Sloveniji imamo zdaj dvakrat več volkov kot leta 2010.

Populacija volkov v Sloveniji narašča

V Sloveniji po zadnjih ocenah genetskega monitoringa živi približno 80 volkov v 12 tropih, od katerih si jih nekaj delimo s sosednjo Hrvaško. Populacija narašča in se je v primerjavi z letom 2010 podvojila, je pojasnil Černe. Zanimalo nas je, ali imamo letos že kaj novih volkov, mladičev, a je Černe odgovoril, da velikosti legel s sistematičnim monitoringom ni mogoče ugotoviti: “Je pa v večini tropov potrjena prisotnost mladičev s pomočjo zvočnega izzivanja oglašanja (howling).” Torej mladički so, a koliko jih je, se ne da ugotoviti.

En trop v Sloveniji živi na okoli 400 kvadratnih kilometrih – velikost je odvisna predvsem od razpoložljivosti hrane. Trop vedno brani svoj teritorij pred drugimi volkovi. Našli smo že primere, ko so volkovi za svoj teritorij ubili druge volkove. —Rok Černe, Zavod za gozdove Slovenije

Kako pogosto pride volk v naselje in kako nevaren je takrat?

Volk se približa naseljem izključno zaradi plenjenja rejnih živali, predvsem drobnice. Na območju razširjenosti jih bo napadel zgolj, če niso ustrezno zaščitene. “V letošnjem letu do konca avgusta zaznavamo 111 napadov volka na rejne živali, in sicer 80 primerov na drobnico, 24 na govedo in 8 na konje in osle,” je razložil Černe, ki je sicer prepričan, da so ograje zelo učinkovite pred napadi volkov. “

via ‘Trop volkov se je verjetno odpravljal na lov’ – 24ur.com