Environment ministry halts regulation on. elk hunting

The Environment Ministry is suspending the entry into force of the amendment to the regulation on the. defining hunting periods for game animals,” the ministry informed. An amendment to an ordinance restoring moose hunting in parts of the country was published Wednesday in the Official Gazette.

On Thursday morning, Radio ZET reported the following "Environment Minister Jan Szyszko has signed a decree lifting the ban on moose hunting".

"In view of the great public interest, the Ministry of the Environment is again inviting to ogoln Poland’s substantive discussion on the exponential decline of bioromendment, according to the Ministry, are also the need to improve the diversity (from the West) in Natura 2000 areas, with a rapid increase in the population of speciesow, such as the wolf, bison, bobr, cormorant, wild boar" – reads a message from the Ministry of the Environment to PAP.

As emphasized by the Ministry of the Environment, "recently there have been many inaccuracies in the media space on this subject, and the above discussion will help clarify any doubts".

On Wednesday, October 25, the Polish Journal of Laws published a decree of the Minister of Environment dated October 23, amending the decree on determining the period ofoin hunting game animals. Elk could be shot at in six voivodeshipsodztwach. On the territory of the voivodshipoThe following provinces: Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Mazowieckie and Pomorskie – it would be possible to shoot elk only in the eastern part of the countryod from the Vistula. On the other hand, it would be possible to hunt in the Lublin, Podlasie and Warmia and Masuria regions throughout the voivodeships in theowildlife.

The amendment stipulates m.in., That from September 1 to November 30 it would be possible to hunt bulls, i.e. males. The hunting period for chub (females) and roe (juveniles) would be from October 1 to December 31. At the same time, this year’s hunting periods for elk have been set: bulls (males) – from November 10 to November 30, clamps (females) and elk (juveniles)- from November 10 to December 31.

In preparing the regulation, the ministry justified lifting the ban on moose hunting on the grounds that the animals, according to the ministry, cause damage to forest crops and pose a danger on roads.

The draft of this amendment also states that the current moose population in Poland is about. 20 thousand. individualow. "In the proposed areas, numerous hunting districts have been found to have population densities of row or larger than 5 specimensoin 1000 ha. Collected information from forestersow and hunters point to increasing damage to forests caused by breaking young trees, trampling and gnawing of crops and youngstersoin, especially pine trees" – added.

Other rationales for lifting the moratorium on moose hunting, according to the ministry, include m.in.: increasing losses in agricultural crops caused by elk (in 2016. more than 4 million zlotys in compensation were paid), or the increasing number of accidentsoin road traffic involving these animals.

The moratorium on elk hunting has been unwinding since 2001 and was introduced to protect these animals. At the end of the 20th century, their population reached 1.7 thousand. individualow. As written in the draft regulation, there are currently approx. 20 thousand. Elks.