Helping wolves in Bulgaria

Wolf Study and Conservation Program

Balkan Wildlife Society, Bulgaria
Progress report
January - March 2004

January was a snowy month in Pirin Mts. This helped us to do a very intensive tracking and to collect some good data. The winter was also good in Kraishte area (colder and more snowy than in Pirin). But as we had to concentrate in Pirin, we spent less time in Kraishte.

The lower parts of Pirin, where wolves stay more in winter time are not the perfect place for snow-tracking. Even if you have deep snow in the higher parts of the mountain down here only one day of warmer temperatures and wind can get most of the snow away. That's the reason we could not determine completely the home range of the first pack, we started following in Pirin. But we have quite big part of it. Probably, around half of this home range is already know. We also know that this pack consists of five members in January. Exactly as we presumed, till now the results show that the home range is vertically oriented, i.e. part of it is in the low mountain parts and it spreads to the higher altitudes. The main reason for that is the vertical migration wolves do seasonally here following the wild ungulates and livestock.

We have also collected a lot of scats from this pack and soon (after analyzing them) we will know the diet preferences of these particular wolves.
Several times, we have also followed tracks in a different area, which we assume is a home range of another pack. We are still not sure though.
We visited Kraishte three times this winter (two - three days each) and could do some good snow tracking. It helped us to add some data in the home range defining of a pack there.

During February there was snow from time to time, hence the tracking was less intensive. At the end of the month we could already set our first trap line for the year. In the beginning of March we had the first wolf in a trap. But … it had managed to escape before we checked the traps on the next morning. The fact that the caught animal had been wolf was proven by the hairs left in the trap. Unfortunately, our first wolf did not want to carry the radio-collar. We hope soon there will be one, which will carry it.

After a lot of negotiations with the owner we finally managed to buy a land with an old farm building in the village of Vlahi. We plan to turn the building into a Large Carnivore Information Center. This would be the only center of this kind in Bulgaria and according to our opinion it will be very attractive for schools but also for tourists. Concentrating our education activities into the center is the way we chose to continue implementing this important objective of our work for wolf conservation. The center will ensure long term education about the large carnivores of Bulgaria.

In March we made the first attempt to bring Vucho to schools. We visited two schools in towns around Pirin Mts. The visits passed very well. Pupils were more than happy to see the real wolf, which they could touch. He gave kisses to a lot of them and showed them that the wolf is not a beast, but an animal as all the others. Meetings with pupils will continue as this was the main reason we have Vucho with us, to be the bridge between wildlife and people. However, we decided that it is much better to accept the pupils' groups in Vlahi and take them for a walk with the wolf. It is much better to meet the wolf in its natural habitat. Later meetings with the wolf will be combined with an education visit of the Large Carnivore Center.

Prepared by:
Elena Tsingarska - Sedefcheva
18.04.2004