Bulgaria levels guns at ever-growing wolf population
PETRICH, Bulgaria (AFP) - Thousands of Bulgarian hunters embarked on a nation-wide out-of-season campaign to cull ever-increasing numbers of wolves, foxes and golden jackals driven by cold weather to prey on farm livestock.
"The permission to hunt, even if only for a day, was rather necessary in our region," said Dimitar Kitanov, local hunt master in this southwestern district:
"Believe me, people around here are not simply crying wolf. Last week a wolf went into the village of Churichene and ate up a 200-kilogram (440 pound) pig.
"In the last week alone, five wolves were killed around here by appointed hunters granted individual out-of-season hunting certificates to appease villagers whose domestic animals have been menaced by predators," Kitanov said.
"Heavy snowfall drove over 20 hungry wolves down from the mountains around Petrich in search of prey. But we'll be lucky if we corner a wolf or two."
Kitanov recalled that night patrols in the border area with neighbouring Greece had repeatedly complained of packs of 10 to 15 wolves roaming the area. "People are afraid they might be attacked while at work," he said.
Over 2,230 wolves were counted in the latest game tally in Bulgaria, an 11 percent increase since 2003. The fox population has reached 36,500 and golden jackals number more than 27,000, according to the forestry and agriculture ministry.
"In recent years there has been a tendency for predator populations around the country to increase, posing a serious threat to other game as well as to domestic animals," hunting experts commented in a statement announcing Saturday's nationwide hunting spree.
During the official hunting season ending January 31, 13 wolves were killed in the region of Petrich and 15 more further north in Blagoevgrad, local hunting parties told AFP.
Hungry or not, wolves are deemed some of the most cunning animals. They have a very highly developed self-preservation instinct and the stamina to run for 50 to 60 kilometres (30-35 miles) a day to escape pursuers, hunting experts said.
A couple of wolves were later saturday reported shot in the region of Kurdzhali and Kroumovgrad. But it will be some days before full reports are collected from around the country.
PETRICH, Bulgaria (AFP) - Thousands of Bulgarian hunters embarked on a nation-wide out-of-season campaign to cull ever-increasing numbers of wolves, foxes and golden jackals driven by cold weather to prey on farm livestock.
"The permission to hunt, even if only for a day, was rather necessary in our region," said Dimitar Kitanov, local hunt master in this southwestern district:
"Believe me, people around here are not simply crying wolf. Last week a wolf went into the village of Churichene and ate up a 200-kilogram (440 pound) pig.
"In the last week alone, five wolves were killed around here by appointed hunters granted individual out-of-season hunting certificates to appease villagers whose domestic animals have been menaced by predators," Kitanov said.
"Heavy snowfall drove over 20 hungry wolves down from the mountains around Petrich in search of prey. But we'll be lucky if we corner a wolf or two."
Kitanov recalled that night patrols in the border area with neighbouring Greece had repeatedly complained of packs of 10 to 15 wolves roaming the area. "People are afraid they might be attacked while at work," he said.
Over 2,230 wolves were counted in the latest game tally in Bulgaria, an 11 percent increase since 2003. The fox population has reached 36,500 and golden jackals number more than 27,000, according to the forestry and agriculture ministry.
"In recent years there has been a tendency for predator populations around the country to increase, posing a serious threat to other game as well as to domestic animals," hunting experts commented in a statement announcing Saturday's nationwide hunting spree.
During the official hunting season ending January 31, 13 wolves were killed in the region of Petrich and 15 more further north in Blagoevgrad, local hunting parties told AFP.
Hungry or not, wolves are deemed some of the most cunning animals. They have a very highly developed self-preservation instinct and the stamina to run for 50 to 60 kilometres (30-35 miles) a day to escape pursuers, hunting experts said.
A couple of wolves were later saturday reported shot in the region of Kurdzhali and Kroumovgrad. But it will be some days before full reports are collected from around the country.
