|
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION
|
September 20, 2019, Minsk.
There are no grounds in Belarus to speak of the need to increase wolf shooting. This was stated at a press conference by the head of the hunting department of the Ministry of Forestry Alexander Kozorez.
Commenting on the situation with the more frequent visits of the predator to settlements located near forests (which, of course, causes concern among people), the representative of the department noted that so far there have been no problems of attacks by healthy wolves on people in the country. “We have every opportunity to stop this. But today there are no prerequisites for increasing the intensity of wolf harvesting. We look at the registration and catch: the number of the predator population is not increasing,” said Alexander Kozorez.
According to him, the reason that wolves are more often seen near settlements is the decline in the number of wild boars. Once they made up about 70% of the biomass of wild ungulates in forests, which were also fed by wolves. Since the boars have now become significantly smaller, the wolves have to reorganize to other types of prey, and this is not so easy to do. “At the same time, the village is here – next to it. With the same dogs and other animals. Therefore, wolves began to catch the eye of people more often and cause damage. But this is not some kind of emergency – it is rather a temporary phenomenon”, – said the representative of the Ministry of Forestry.
He recalled that today the wolf in Belarus is a simple hunting species, hunting for it is allowed throughout the year in any legal presence in the land.