Early in March a conference on “Conservation and Management of Wolves in
Croatia” was held in the Risnjak National Park at which the project was presented
and all details related to the project execution agreed. The conference was
attended by about 50 participants among which there were representatives
of this Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry
of Environment of the Republic of Slovenia, the Administrative Department
for Economic Development of the County Primorsko-goranska, the School of
Veterinary Medicine of the Zagreb University, experts from Great Britain
and Bulgaria, representatives of the hunters and cattle-breeders associations,
public institutions for the management of protected areas, Croatian Forests,
chartered experts and new candidates for experts, or rather all persons involved
in implementation of the project. The participants of the conference agreed
to prepare the “Plan of Wolf Management in Croatia” by the end of 2003. The
plan will be prepared through joint workshops or rather in co-operation with
all interest groups and will be subject to the approval of the general public.
Within the framework of the conference a seminar for experts was held at
which the participants were made familiar with the legislative framework
for damage compensation, recognition of the predator signs on the prey and
expert experiences. They also discussed the existing damage assessment instructions
and the protocol form and made relevant modifications in the same. The practical
part of the seminar included the dissection of animals killed by wolves.