Category: country page

Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked country, which is largely mountainous.

There are a population of 200-250 Lynx in the Swiss Alps, and Jura mountains.

There is no permanent population of Bears in the country, though with the population in Trentino Italy, there are relatively regular visitors. As yet none appear to have settled.

Wolves are also roaming into the country from time to time. It is true that hunters have usually targeted them whenever they are near, but over time they are likely to refill the country.

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There is a  population of wolves in the country, which is numbered at around 30-35. Wolves have been sighted in 17 of the 26 districts. Oddly a bbc report from 2021 suggested that there were 100 wolves in the country in 8 packs, but this number is clearly at odds with the conclusion of the majority of wolf studies in the country.

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Slovakia

Slovakia

Slovakia is not a large country in Europe (28th in size) and was also behind the iron curtain. Until the 1990s it was joined with the Czech republic as Czechoslovakia. Oddly, while the Czech republic is largely without large predators, Slovakia is different. The situation is changing in Czech republic so these countries may become more similar, but at the current time, Slovakia has a far more healthy population of various species.

Wolf hunting was only banned in this country in 2021, now is the time for wildlife tourism to grow, so this progress is not reversed.

Slovakia also lies within the Carpathians, and as such has a relatively rich wildlife. As with many countries, historical estimates of wild animal populations were put forwards by hunting groups, which had a vested interest in exaggerating the size of populations, as this allows them to hunt more of the population in question. Wolves are a case in point with some hunting organisations suggesting a wolf population of 1800-2000, yet the more accurate figure is probably between 200 and 400. Wolf hunting was banned in June 2021, so we will see what happens to the population now. The wolves are largely restricted to the North and West of the country.

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There are currently thought to be 300-400 Lynx within Slovakia, with a range similar to Wolves, though as a species that roams less, they are unlikely to use all range.

There are thought to be between 1200 and 1600 bears within the country, which is a good number. This number has increased 3 fold over the last 20 years. Their range is shown in the map below

 

Links will be added below (between is a list of all news blogposts on Slovakia in the box below)      as we connect with people and places 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Bosnia & Herzegovina is  relatively small country in central Europe. Despite lying behind the iron curtain, while it has not lost the populations of large predators that many other countries in Europe have, they are more depressed than in some countries in this part of the continent.

Recent surveys suggest that there are around 1000 bears, 400 wolves and around 50 lynx within the country. Predation of livestock by these animals is not compensated – when this is the case there is often a greater mortality rate, as farmers take protecting their livestock into their own hands.

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 The country of Bosnia & Herzegovina is mainly hilly to mountainous. The average altitude is 500m. 5% of the land area is considered lowland, 24% hills, 42% mountainous and 29% Karst (this is an area of limestone, which often wears away unevenly, resulting in al sorts of rock formations. Part of the Dinirac Alps – they are not officially part of the Alps, but we have included them anyway.

 

Bear dsitribution in Bosnia & Herzengovia
Wolf distribution in Bosnia

What is clear, is that interest in the wolves and bears amongst tourists is likely to encourage ecotourism to become an industry in Bosnia & Herzegovina. This country has suffered greatly over the last half a century or more, however, as a result many animals have survived alongside them – tourism will show them what this is worth.

Bison have not yet got any presence in the country.

Links to areas to visit will appear below Our new section (which is directly below this text – no news as yet)

Poland

Poland

Poland is the 9th largest in Europe and lay behind the Iron curtain for much of the second half of the 20th century.  The extreme south of the country contains a small part of the Carpathians, but there is still much wildlife in the country. There are 2500 wolves within its borders – with most of these found in the South and East of the country.

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The Carpathian region of Romania, is also the only part of Poland to have wild bears, with about 150 living in this area. Similarly, this is the only region that Lynx are found, and there are no more than 220 of these cats within poland.

Poland shares the Bialowieza Forest with Belarus across the border, and this was the last refuge of the European Bison. Currently the Bison population is estimated at 2269 in the country.

Links to areas to visit will appear below.

 

Italy

Italy wolf CC BY-SA 3.0

Italy

Italy is the 10th largest country in Europe. Oddly, it has proved to successfully hold on to many of the species lost elsewhere. Some of these have returned, and there is ongoing debate about bringing back those still missing.

Wolves were thought to number around 3307 last year, and with growth of 6-7% that would be around 3500 this year (if still growing at that pace. They hit their low point in the 1970s with 70-100 individuals. while considered a separate subspecies, it is likely that any differences in appearance is due to the bottleneck that populations have gone through, and probably not significant differences in the actual animals. More to the point, it is far better for the European wolf population to make sure the genetic width of the population is there. It should be noted that the French wolf population was founded out of the Italian population, through migration back in 1992. The Italian wolves can be seen through much of the peninsula on the west of the country, using the Apennines mountain range as a highway.

 

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There are currently 2 populations of bears in Italy. The Marsican bear lives in the Apennines of Italy, alongside the Italian wolf, however this population only number 60-80. The other population is to replace a recently extinct population only lost 34 years ago, when the italian Alps population fell to 3 members, without a single breeding female. A decision was made to start translocating bears from Slovenia. That has been incredibly successful – with the population now thought to be around 100.

There are thought to be just 200 lynx in Italy. While there is a population in the northern province of belluno in Italy, there are also many along the border between Switzerland and Slovenia, where across the border there are established populations. I look at how close these are, and wonder whether the Belluno population may have a similar origin.

Bison were locally extinct in Italy are but have been reintroduced into Viva Natura park near Verona, though this is only to ready the herd for the true reintroduction into the wilds of Romania.. 

Links to areas to visit will appear below. We are open to listing any tourism businesses that work in the natural world in Italy.  Click “list your wild place” at the top of the page or here   it is a quick process.

Italy News

Austria

Austria

Austria is the 23rd largest country in Europe, and lies in the middle. As such, historically virtually all predators were hunted to extinction quite some time ago, and they have not been given a big chance to return.

Bears survive in Austria but only 25-30 remain. They are thought to live in the centre of the country. However, despite regularly recording successful breeding, the population has not grown. It is not clear what is the problem, though bears often appear to vanish at adolescence.

Wolves, similarly were lost back in the 1882 but returned silently 2016. There are currently only 80 or so animals. However, as you can see from the map below, they have been sited in a wide area (this is sightings for a whole year).

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Please note, the map and sightings reporting below is only for wildlife outside the Alpine regionof Austria. If you click on the red area (which is the Austrian Alps) this will take you to the page giving you information on this area of the country and allow reporting sightings from this region.

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Austria News

Romania

Romania

Romania is a country that is similar in size to the UK and is the 12th largest in Europe. Despite this, it has a wealth of wildlife, partly as a result of 35% of it being covered by the Carpathians. 

Wolves are found throughout the Romanian Carpathians and the surrounding area consisting of about 50% of the countries area. Despite this, wolves are not easy to see on a visit.

Romania is a stronghold of bears in Europe, partly because during the Communist era, only high ranking people were allowed to hunt them. About 5000 live here, or roughly 35% of the European bear population outside Russia.

Lynx are also found throughout the Romanian Carpathians, and are thought to number about 2000

Bison were locally extinct from about the 1800, but have been reintroduced in the Tarcu Mountains (part of the Carpathian great arc and lying in the South West of the country, and currently have a population of about 105.

 

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Links to areas to visit will appear below our list of news from the country.

 

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