Conservation of large carnivores in Poland – EuroNatur project

Main focus of the project is monitoring of the status of large, protected species of carnivores – wolf and lynx in Poland and studying their ecology with emphasis on the conservation applications of its results. The background of the project is related to the fact that both, the wolf and lynx reach the westernmost limits of their distribution within the territory of Poland and thus their populations are forming here important links between the source populations in the East and potential habitats occurring in the Western Europe. It is all the more so important, as the wolf population experiences a dynamic development and, in contrast, the lynx shows a lack of spontaneous growth. Therefore, the long-term monitoring of the large carnivores allows to observe the rate and range of the process of natural westward expansion of the wolves and enables collecting data which may help understanding stagnation of the lynx population. This project is a continuation of a long-term program of wolf and lynx monitoring which has started from 2001 and includes, beside of collecting information on carnivores’ distribution and numbers, also data on ecological factors associated with their occurrence as well as educational activities related to their conservation.