"Wolves" No.1 2002
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WOLF CONSERVATION WITH BIOSPHERE EXPEDITIONS "Wolves", newsletter of the Wolf Society of Great Britain, No. 1, 2002, pages 8/9. Biosphere Expeditions, an award-winning, not-for-profit conservation organisation, is offering places on expeditions to survey wolf populations in Poland and the Ukraine later this year. Places are offered in 2 week slots so that people can come in their ordinary holiday time, but the expeditions go into each country for over a month and people can stay for the whole expedition period if they choose. Each of the two expeditions is quite different with the Ukrainian expedition taking place in a hot mediterranean beach and forest environment, and the Poland expedition involving radio and snow-tracking the animals in snowy and mountainous terrain. Biosphere Expeditions is a research and conservation organisation running real wildlife conservation expeditions to all corners of the Earth. The projects are not tours, photographic safaris or excursions, but genuine wildlife expeditions placing ordinary people with no research experience alongside scientists who are at the forefront of conservation work. The expeditions are open to all, there are no special skills (biological or otherwise) required to join and there are no age limits whatsoever. Expedition team members are people from all walks of life, of all ages, looking for an adventure with a conscience and a sense of purpose. Each team member contributes valuable resources to important conservation projects, both in terms of finance and the time and work they put in, which results in important research being undertaken that would not otherwise be possible. The expedition to the Ukraine takes place in the Kinburska Kosa Landscape Park on the Northern shores of the Black Sea during August and September (dates given below) when the weather is generally very hot. Little data exists on steppe wolf numbers in the area and the expedition will carry out a large-scale survey through observations from a night-hide, using night-sights, and through daytime tracking through the sandy pine forests that lie behind the beach and sand dunes. Data obtained during the expedition will be used in the formulation of management plans in efforts to upgrade the Landscape Park to National Park status, and to educate local people about their canine neighbours. The expedition will also look at bird migratory patterns through the Park and catch passing birds in nets (which is harmless to the animals) so that they can be measured, identified, and ringed before being released. Zinovy Petrovych, the Landscape Park Director, says of the first expedition, which took place last year, "It has always been our dream to conduct this kind of large-scale study, but so far we have had neither the money nor the people to do it. Biosphere Expeditions has changed all that and enabled us to realise many of our ambitions".
A member of the expedition team measures a track.
The expedition to Poland, in contrast, takes place at the beginning and the end of winter in the mountainous area of South East Poland which borders the Ukraine and Slovakia, in the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. Under the guidance of Dr Wojciech Smietana from the Institute of Nature Conservation at the Polish Academy of Sciences, the expedition will snow- and radio track wolves in an area with one of the world's highest density of wolves, brown bears and lynx. Last year an expedition team managed, for the first time in the area, to capture and radio-collar a wolf, a feat that has been repeated again twice this year allowing for a much better understanding of wolf habits and movements. The expedition in November/December this year is part of an on-going population study designed to protect wolves from pressures to declare them legitimate hunting targets (as was successfully prevented only this
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"Wolves" No.1 2002
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February when an application was turned down by the minister responsible), and to conserve wolves in coexistence with the local human population. Official wolf censuses conducted by game managers consistently overestimate the actual number of wolves in the area. They also claim that wolves have a negative impact on red deer numbers. Combined, these results are then used in efforts to change the status of wolves in the area from protected animals to legitimate hunting targets. The data collected during this expedition will be an independent and scientifically accurate means of determining true wolf numbers and their predatory impact on red deer. Recent expedition work has shown that proposed hunting quotas for wolves (calculated based on the official overestimates) would in theory eradicate the entire population that exists within the Biosphere Reserve. It also shows that hunting has a more significant impact on red deer mortality than wolf predation. However, more work over a number of years is needed to make these conclusions even more persuasive and to protect the wolf in the future.
Dr. Smietana checking for telemetry signals.
For further information on either of these expeditions please have a look at the Biosphere Expeditions website at www.biosphere-expeditions.org or contact them on telephone 01502 583085. The expedition to the Ukraine runs from 4 August until 15 September with 2 week slots starting 4 August, 18 August and 1 September. The expedition contribution required from each team member is ÂŁ990. The expedition to Poland runs from 18 November to 15 December, with 2 week slots starting on 18 November and 2 December. The expedition contribution is ÂŁ1080. Biosphere Expeditions is a not-for-profit organisation with as much funding going directly into the host country as is possible (at least two-thirds of the expedition contribution) in the form of direct funding and equipment.
Notes to Editors: Background information on the organisation and its expedition itinerary are available at http://www.biosphereexpeditions.org. The press release area containing this release with accompanying photographs is at http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/media/. Biosphere Expeditions, Sprat's Water, near Carlton Colville, The Broads National Park, Suffolk NR33 8BP, UK. info@biosphere-expeditions.org, Tel.: +44-1502-583085, Fax: +44-1502-587414 in Germany / Deutschland: deutschland@biosphere-expeditions.org, Tel.: +49-7127-980242, Fax: +49-7127-8878776
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