The topic of today's lecture is hunting management systems and their importance in obtaining
extremely organic food. The lecture is part of Module 4: Precision Livestock Farming, which is
part of the ISAGREED project. This presentation was supported by Erasmus+ KA2 Cooperation
Partnerships Grant "Innovation of the content and structure of study programmes in the field
of management of animal genetic and food resources using digitalization".
In today's lecture, information will be given in the introduction about the development of hunting,
hunting management in Slovakia in the conditions of state and military forests, where the right
to hunt is part of the profession of foresters employed in the forests under their management,
as well as the conditions of hunting management at the level of hunting associations,
which represent the voluntary organized activities of associations, clubs and societies
associated in the Slovak Hunting Chamber with long-lasting tradition. The role and
expertise of the hunting manager and his/her position in relation to the existing legislation
will be defined, and information will be given on the most important game species in Slovakia.
Game hunting is as old as mankind itself. It was part of the livelihood
of emerging prehistoric man as well as later social formations.
It was a driving force in the development of human activities, a school of courage and
bravery. Very soon hunting became the prerogative of kings,
an expression of power and wealth, and even at the beginning of the 20th century it was
almost exclusively the preserve of certain privileged noble families. As the social and
class composition of society changed, so did the view of wildlife and hunting, and the important
function of management in protecting the game and its environment was particularly emphasised.
At the beginning, it is necessary to define hunting and the position of hunting in society.
Hunting is a set of activities aimed at preserving, improving, protecting,
and making optimal use of the game gene pool as a natural asset of the EU. It is part of the
creation, protection, and use of the environment and, while respecting its guiding principles,
should not interfere with the rational management of forest and agricultural land. In addition to
providing funding for nature conservation, hunters play an important role in assisting government
bodies and biologists involved in managing the population sizes of certain animal species.
Regulated hunting is one of the most effective tools that state conservation authorities can
use to address the overpopulation of a species. In Slovakia, hunting management
can be categorised into two parts. On the one hand, there are professional hunters in the form
of foresters, who are in charge of the Slovak Forests or the Military Forests of the Slovak
Republic, who carry out hunting as a professional activity, very often with a commercial result.
On the other hand, a large part of the hunting public exists in
the form of voluntary hunters who are associated with a hunting chamber and
are organised in various associations, clubs, or societies. Every hunting
ground must have an appointed hunting manager. Later we will learn about his roles,
competencies, and duties in relation to hunting management and the government authorities.
The hunting manager usually models population growth and based on field research and collected
data, sets management rules, which may include season length or hunting quotas.
Once these regulations are in place, hunting managers monitor the population,
conducting ongoing surveys and adjusting future management decisions based on the data.
The user of the hunting area is obliged to propose to the regional hunting authority
a hunting manager to ensure professional hunting management in the hunting area.
It does not matter whether it is a hunting ground managed by the Slovak Forests or the
Military Forest of SR as professional hunters, every hunting ground must have an appointed
professional hunting manager, and all associations and clubs that use a hunting ground must have an
appointed hunting manager as well. Let's take a look at the tasks of a hunting manager.
Hunting manager: is legally competent, has a valid hunting licence and has held
a hunting licence for at least five consecutive years, has a valid Group D firearms licence,
has passed the hunting manager's examination or a higher vocational hunting examination or is
a graduate of a secondary forestry school or a graduate of a university at which hunting is a
compulsory subject and has passed an examination in that subject, has not committed a hunting
offence in the last five years, is not a hunting manager in another hunting ground/club/society.
As I have said before, every hunting ground whether private or public, whether professional,
commercial or otherwise, must have an appointed hunting manager. There are a number of ways
of obtaining an examination or authorisation to act as a professional hunting manager under (d).
It is possible to apply to the district authority, the Department of Land and Forestry
for an examination, whereby an examination board is set up in cooperation with the hunting chamber
and, after completing the prescribed amount of theoretical training, the examination is passed,
this examination being of the level of a higher professional examination sufficient for the
performance of the function of a professional hunting manager. The other alternative is to
graduate from a secondary forestry school where hunting is a compulsory subject or
from a university where hunting is taught. The Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
is one of the universities in Slovakia where hunting is a compulsory subject
in the study programmes Special Breeding (Bc.) and Special Breeding Branches (MSc.).
After completing the subject in the prescribed range of theoretical and practical parts, after
completing the theoretical training and practical shooting, students are issued diplomas, which are
worth higher professional examination and thus they can perform as professional hunting managers.
Let's take a closer look at the roles of a hunting manager.
He is the key person in the field of hunting. As we have already said, each hunting ground has an
appointed professional hunting manager, and he can not carry out this activity in more than
one ground. He has extensive competencies, but even more responsibilities and work.
He is responsible for the organisation: annual/seasonal animal census - spring
and autumn in our conditions, drawing up a draft breeding and hunting plan,
the allocation of individual hunting licences in the particular hunting area, entitling them
to hunt, ensuring that shooting is carried out, checking that members of the hunting association
are disciplined when hunting and that they comply not only with the law but
also with ethical principles, the procurement of seeds and seedlings and the cultivation of
fields, the preparation of fodder in general for the emergency period, mowing meadows,
preparing roughage, grain and other feed (roots) for periods of lack of natural feed sources,
keeping records of hunted game, venison, services for hunting guests and their guiding,
plans and organises the construction of hunting facilities (feeders, feeding troughs,
salt pans and hunting equipment, various seats and sitting areas), organises collective hunts,
is responsible for implementing the guidelines of the Forestry Authority and
the State Veterinary and Food Administration, submit trophies for the annual inspection,
combats poaching and protects game animals,controls animals harmful to hunting.
Very often conflicts and disagreements arise in the field of professional hunting management
due to lack of professional knowledge and ignorance of the legislation,
which are more frequent in private or leased hunting grounds that are used commercially.
Owners and users (lessees) of hunting land often interfere in the activities of the
hunitng manager due to their position. They relegate him to the role of a statutory officer
whose task is to keep hunting records so that everything is in order 'on paper.
The owners or users of many hunting grounds are solvent and influential people who are
engaged in various business activities and are certainly experts in their profession.
It is logical that one cannot be an expert in all fields and the activity
of a hunting manager is a very specialised job that requires a "master of his craft"
and an expert in hunting and regulations, as well as in nature and the environment.
Therefore, interfering in the tasks and competencies of a hunting manager is out
of place. The regulations and rules in hunting management are the results of
decades of experience and tradition of previous generations of hunters and hunting managers.
In hunting grounds with the best trophy game, where national or world records were achieved,
the head of the hunting ground - the hunting manager, was always a top expert, a strong
personality whose principles and rules of breeding were accepted by all. Otherwise, it is impossible
to achieve the breeding goals, to maintain the game population in the optimal age and sex
structure and to ensure the permanent production of strong trophies. I dare add that without
the professional activity of the game manager and intervention in the population structure,
it is not possible to maintain game populations at sustainable sizes, especially in terms of numbers.
Let's take a closer look at the differences in hunting management. On the one hand,
we have professional hunters. Professional hunting is operated in the State Forests and
the Military Forests of the Slovak Republic under the management of the respective Ministry. State
hunting grounds in the administration of the State Forests under the administration
of individual enterprises (units), have appointed hunting managers who
manage the execute of hunting rights in these grounds or lease hunting areas to
private persons or companies which execute the hunting right on the basis of a lease agreement.
In addition, there are designated or reserved hunting grounds which are used for educational
and research purposes. They are affiliated with educational and research institutions.
The Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra also has 2 reserved hunting grounds which are used for
educational and research purposes. Of course, they are used for practical training of hunting adepts.
Overview of numbers and development of population structure of the most important
game species according to official statistics of hunting planning and hunting reports in Slovakia.
Red Deer - Cervus Elaphus According to reports from
the 2020/2021 hunting season, 70,380 individuals were reported in Slovakia,
which represents a decrease of 551 individuals compared to the previous year.
In 2021, according to reports from hunting farmers in Slovakia, 49,558 deer were hunted,
which is 3,506 more than in 2020. In addition, 76 deer were captured, and 4 349 deer
died by accident. The total decline was therefore 53 983
deer. Even in the context of the well-known fact that game populations are on an upward trend, we
can see that there is also an almost 10% increase in hunting in terms of hunting management.
Fallow deer - Dama dama 2020/2021
23,877 individuals (+ 1,453). A total of 23,024 fallow deer (4,779
more than in 2020) were recorded in the hunt. In
addition, the capture of 123 and the mortality of 1,049 fallow deer were
recorded. The total decrease of fallow deer was 24 196 deer (+ 5 016 deer compared to 2020).
Woodland mouflon - Ovis musimon A recorded population of 14,097 individuals, which
is 639 more than in 2020. In 2021, the reported harvest of mouflon was 6,715 individuals, which
is 510 more than in 2020. In the long term, we have a problem with the decline of the non-trophy
(females and young) in the forest mouflon, mainly due to the lack of interest of hunters in hunting,
but we also register in the hunting associations that the age structure is not sufficient because
we have few individuals at an old age. Roe deer - Capreolus capreolus
In the case of roe deer, which is the most numerous game species in Slovakia, the registered
number is 104 811 individuals. The reported hunting of roe deer was 25 889. In the case
of roe deer in Slovakia, we distinguish between the so-called field and forest populations.
Wild boar - Sus scrofa 36,761 individuals were recorded (2,504 fewer
than in 2020). The reported hunting was 58,186 individuals, 1,470 fewer than the previous year.
In the case of wild boar, it should be noted that this intensive hunting is also due to the African
swine fever epidemic, which in the context of the current regulations of the Regional Veterinary and
Food Administration has been ordered, where we hunt wild boar of all ages and sexes all year
round without restriction in order to prevent the transmission of the disease to domestic breeding.
In the case of small game hunting for field hares, 165 354 hare were reported
and the population increased by 8 333 individuals compared to the previous
year. In the 2021/2022 hunting season, 14 525 hunted and 39 captured hares were reported.
Again, trapping has a long tradition in Slovakia but during the pandemic,
these joint actions were not carried out, hence the low hare capture in 2020/21.
Brown bear - Ursus Arctos In 2021, 2 997 (+237) brown bears
were reported from the level of individual hunting grounds. Based on the reports,
6 individuals were shot (based on a request for a problem individual exemption.), and 48 individuals
were culled (carcasses, mortalities and individuals that came into conflict with traffic).
For comparison, 835 brown bears were reported in 1990.
Dragon wolf - Canis Lupus In 2021, a total of 3,291 wolves were
recorded. No hunting was carried out because the wolf has become a protected carnivore year-round.
24 deaths based on reports. In the past, a hunting quota of 50 wolves per season was allowed, and in
recent years this quota has not been met. Lynx lynx
The count of 804 lynx in 2021 is 81 more than the previous year. The lynx is currently classified
as a strictly protected animal. Slovakia is in a consortium of countries that are implementing
lynx reintroduction in the Alpine regions of Switzerland and other Western European countries.
Briefly on the legal regulation of hunting management in Slovakia or the management
of hunting by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic resp. Ministry of Environment of
the Slovak Republic. State authority at the county level - county land and forest office - hunting
department and subsequently district authorities - Department of Land and Forestry,
State administration and management in the field of hunting management is delegated to these,
e.g.: register of lease/ownership of hunting grounds, approval of annual game censuses,
approval of breeding and hunting plans, approval of hunting pheasant/ game hides,
cooperation with the State Veterinary and Food Administration in the field
of food safety and protection. In the following courses and modules,
you will certainly get further information concerning animal genetic and food resources
in the European Union, as hunting and game are also part of the national wealth and cultural
heritage and contribute to the diversity of food resources and the nutrition of the population.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to the next time. See you soon.