The 2nd Slovene-Croatian Congress on Exotic and Wild Animals, Ljubljana, Slovenia

26-28 September 2005

The 2nd Slovene-Croatian Congress on Exotic and Wild Animals was held in the Mons Congress Centre of Ljubljana. Lectures and presentations were divided into several areas: rodents and rabbits, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, the CITES, freeliving animals and nature conservation and other exotic animal species. The workshop dedicated to the CITES focused particularly on regulations, veterinary control and problems relating to transport and international trade in endangered animal species; the analysis of trade in endangered species in Slovenia was presented, as well as the regulations on the conditions for keeping endangered species, the rule book on marking endangered species held captive and on sanctuaries for endangered species.

On the second congress day the representatives of the State Institute for Nature Protection held two presentations within the context of the CITES theme: the CITES cases in Croatia and Varanus prasinus - problems of returning the smuggled exotic animals (from Papua to Croatia and back) to the wild.

Within the context of the topic covering freeliving animals and nature conservation a representative of the State Institute for Nature Protection presented the activities of the Institute and the progress and results of the LIFE III Project on Conservation and Management of Wolves in Croatia. Numerous brochures, bulletins and the Management Plan printed within the framework of the project were made available to all participants, who were also provided extra information by means of an educational poster. The topic aroused a lot of interest of the Slovene experts who are shortly starting the implementation of such a project.