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Earlier studies have indicated that consumption of beavers Castor ssp. by wolves Canis lupus varies seasonally and is influenced by rainfall affecting water levels. Therefore, to determine whether ...

The authors analyse the political dialogue regarding wolf protection between pro-nature nongovernmental organizations, hunters and politicians in Poland. Despite strong pressure of hunting lobbies legal status of the wolf has changed significantly, from animal heavily persecuted after Second World War to species strictly protected in whole country since 1998. In 21st century opposition towards wolf protection is fuelled by hunters and politicians connected with them. The analysis shown that strong voice of non-governmental organizations is needed to sustain wolf protection in Poland.

We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management.

Understanding factors and mechanisms causing large carnivore aggression towards people is crucial for their conservation in modern human-dominated landscapes. We present detailed descriptions of wolf attacks on people in early summer 2018 in two areas of Poland, analysis of behaviour, fitness and origin of individuals responsible for the attacks and management actions undertaken by local communities as well as governmental bodies and non-governmental organisations. We show that attacks were caused by yearling wolves (13-month-old male and 14-month-old female) originating from local packs, which appeared near households several months prior to incidents. Both individuals were positively food-conditioned and showed increasing habituation caused by irresponsible behaviour of people such as long-lasting intentional feeding or illegal keeping. Post mortem necropsy revealed obesity and serious abnormality of spleen (polysplenia) in the problem female wolf that negatively impacted her fitness and was the most likely reason for her presence near households and feeding on leftovers. Despite prolonged observations of these wolves very close to human settlements (less than 30 m), no mitigation actions were undertaken until the attacks, after which both individuals were killed. We provide several recommendations to avoid aggressive human-carnivore encounters.

The gray wolf Canis lupus range in central Europe is dynamically expanding, reconnecting previously isolated populations. Thus, a recent paper has proposed to merge the current Baltic and Central European (CE) wolf management units, which are no longer isolated by distance. However, recent genetic findings indicate that these two populations are not genetically homogenous. Here we review the most recent data on wolf genetic structure in central Europe and show that even though the CE and Baltic wolves represent the same phylogeographic lineage, their demographic history has resulted in significant genetic structure between these two populations. While the groups are interconnected by moderate gene flow, it is not high enough to reduce the strong founder signal observed in the CE population, suggesting that population dynamics within the CE wolf range are largely independent from those of its source (Baltic) population. Consequently, a management unit combining the CE and Baltic wolves would not form a demographically coherent entity. Thus, we recommend that conservation management units maintain their separate status.

Local extinction and recolonization events can shape genetic structure of subdivided animal populations. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was extirpated from most of Europe, but recently recolonized big part of its historical range. An exceptionally dynamic expansion of wolf population is observed in the western part of the Great European Plain. Nonetheless, genetic consequences of this process have not yet been fully understood. We aimed to assess genetic diversity of this recently established wolf population in Western Poland (WPL), determine its origin and provide novel data regarding the population genetic structure of the grey wolf in Central Europe. We utilized both spatially explicit and non-explicit Bayesian clustering approaches, as well as a model-independent, multivariate method DAPC, to infer genetic structure in large dataset (881 identified individuals) of wolf microsatellite genotypes. To put the patterns observed in studied population into a broader biogeographic context we also analyzed a mtDNA control region fragment widely used in previous studies. In comparison to a source population, we found slightly reduced allelic richness and heterozygosity in the newly recolonized areas west of the Vistula river. We discovered relatively strong west-east structuring in lowland wolves, probably reflecting founder-flush and allele surfing during range expansion, resulting in clear distinction of WPL, eastern lowland and Carpathian genetic groups. Interestingly, wolves from recently recolonized mountainous areas (Sudetes Mts, SW Poland) clustered together with lowland, but not Carpathian wolf populations. We also identified an area in Central Poland that seems to be a melting pot of western, lowland eastern and Carpathian wolves. We conclude that the process of dynamic recolonization of Central European lowlands lead to the formation of a new, genetically distinct wolf population. Together with the settlement and establishment of packs in mountains by lowland wolves and vice versa, it suggests that demographic dynamics and possibly anthropogenic barriers rather than ecological factors (e.g. natal habitat-biased dispersal patterns) shape the current wolf genetic structure in Central Europe.

Celem przeprowadzonych badań było porównanie wyników ekonomicznych i produkcyjnych w grupie gospodarstw z uprawami polowymi (gospodarstwa roślinne) oraz gospodarstw zwierzęcych (średnio z trzech typów) o podobnej powierzchni użytków rolnych w regionie Mazowsze i Podlasie. Badania wykazały, że gospodarstwa roślinne są mniej efektywne pod względem ekonomicznym. Charakteryzują się niższą produktywnością ziemi ogółem oraz niższymi kosztami produkcji na 1 ha UR. Dochód w tych gospodarstwach był o 28,8% mniejszy niż w gospodarstwach zwierzęcych, natomiast dochód przeliczony na osobę pełnozatrudnioną rodziny rolnika stanowił 87,0% wartości dochodu wypracowanego przez członków gospodarstw zwierzęcych. Przeprowadzona analiza wykazała także zróżnicowanie wyników ekonomicznych pomiędzy badanymi typami gospodarstw zwierzęcych.

In central Europe, wolves Canis lupus prey on wild ungulates - main game species and occasionally kill livestock. The recovery of wolf population across the continent coincides with an increasing incidence of illegal killing, which level remains unknown. We analysed the illegal killing of wolves in Poland, where the species is strictly protected since 1998. We opportunistically collected data on wolves illegally shot and snared from 2002 to 2020, revealing their geographical extent and sex and age structure. Furthermore, we estimated their mortality rate due to illegal shooting on the basis of 16 GPS/GSM collared individuals between 2014 and 2020. We recorded 54 illegally shot and 37 snared wolves. The majority (63.7%) were killed between 2017 and 2020, mostly in Western Poland. The sex structure was similar between shot and snared individuals. In both groups, the wolves over one-year old prevailed, although there were 18 pups among shot wolves. We identified 6 shot and 3 snared breeders. Out of 16 GPS/GSM collared individuals, six were shot giving the mortality rate of 0.33 per year. Simulations revealed that the pooled number of wolves illegally shot in Poland annually, is between 147 and 1134 (99% highest density interval) or 216 and 1000 (95%). In six out of seven cases, in which the person who shot a wolf was eventually sentenced, hunters were responsible. We conclude that the present regulations concerning the prevention of illegal killing, pursuing and punishing the perpetrators of the illegal killing of wolves, require urgent improvements in order to effectively mitigate the problem.

The paper presents the results of economic and financial farms focused on the cultivation of field crops against farms targeted for the remainder of plant production (horticulture, permanent crops), and the total households in Po­land. The basis of the study were data from the 2013 and 2014 year collected in these farms, under a system of Polish FADN. It has been shown that the holding in which the dominant share in the total production is the cultivation of field crops (mainly cereals and rape) were characterized by an average of approx. 20% higher income than households in general. In terms of income, however, is dominated by horticultural holdings. There are in this issue are some dif­ferences depending on the region FADN. Among the types of productive horticultural holdings are characterized by relatively low value obtained subsidies that in other types of vegetable farms and in general they have a significant impact on earned income. If the payments stopped functioning farm with permanent crops in the region of Pomerania and Masuria did not have to exist.