23 March 2007

The Wolf Named Sivko Captured and Brought to the State Asylum in Ruščica

On Friday, 23 March, a wolf named Sivko, who was lately roaming around settlements in the Čavle municipality not far from Rijeka, was captured and transported to the state asylum for protected animals in Ruščica.

An inhabitant of Siverić found Sivko as an exhausted and abandoned cub on the Promina hill near Knin in the middle of June 2006 and brought it home. He placed it inside a wire fence in his yard and informed the Nature Protection Inspection of the Ministry of Culture about his finding and steps he had taken.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Josip Kusak visited the young and found it to be a 4/5month-old cub weighing some 15 kg and still having milk teeth. Although a bit smaller than most of the wolves born that year, the cub was in a good condition. The cub was found not to be used to humans, but also not big enough to be set free in the wild. It was therefore agreed to find a home for it until he reached about 20 kg and became capable of living on his own in the wild. Since found near Siverić, it was called Sivko.

Early in October 2006 Sivko was brought to the Centre for Providing for Seized and Injured Protected Animals (AWAP) where it was taken care of adequately and provided isolated accommodation with a minimum contact with humans.

During their visit to the Centre in the mid-December the experts of the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb found the wolf to be in a good condition and to show fear of humans - when they approached, it moved typically down one and the same path in the rear part of the enclosure and avoided approaching the fence in order to establish a contact with them. Its weight was estimated at about 20 kg. This gave ground for the conclusion that the wolf's age and size made it capable for him to catch and overpower on its own the corresponding prey in the wild, and that, unless it was decided to keep it in captivity for life, the wolf should be set free in the wild as soon as possible.

On 10 February 2007 Sivko was released in the wild in the area of the Risnjak National Park. He was previously examined thoroughly, treated against infectious diseases and pests and fitted with a VHF collar for telemetric monitoring of his movements. The area of the Risnjak National Park was chosen for his release because of the full-scale protection and supervision of the space within the national park boundaries and the presence of the wolf's natural prey. The natural prey number in Gorski kotar exceeds, namely, by far that in Dalmatia, where the wolf mostly feeds on domestic animals. In Dalmatia there are, consequently, more conflicts and less benevolence of people towards the wolf, as confirmed by a public opinion survey conducted in the context of the LIFE III project. And, last not least, it is Dalmatia of all the places where Sivko's parents fell victim, most probably to anthropogenic causes. On the other hand, the results of all the three public opinion surveys conducted in 1999, 2003 and 2005 showed the public attitude towards the wolf to be the most positive in Gorski kotar in relation to other regions. Similarly, wolves are at present being telemetrically monitored in Gorski kotar only, which made it possible to monitor Sivko's movements in relation to other wolves and to study their interactions. This provided the scientists with valuable scientific information that will be used in planning further wolf conservation activities.

The first five days after his release, Sivko stayed around the place in the Risnjak National Park where he was set free. During that time the members of the Snježnjik pack approached him (as indicated by the movements of the collared Hilda and Sara), but either Sivko did not join them or they did not accept him. After that he started moving southwards, left the Risnjak National Park and reached Gornje Jelenje. From there he went further to the south and even reached the motorway, which may have presented an obstacle for him, because he stopped there. Here he stayed for a week and then started eastwards, most likely along the motorway. He reached Grobnik and crossed to the other side of the field, all the way to the settlement of Grobnik, i.e. almost to Rijeka. Along this way he may have met members of the Suho pack (who also use to come as far as Grobnik), but obviously did not join them either. He stayed in the area of the Čavle municipality until the moment of capturing. Since this is a rather populated area and Sivko did not particularly try to screen from view, he was seen by many inhabitants of local settlements.

Judging by phone calls to the Ministry of Culture, numerous newspaper articles and direct conversations between the local population and field researchers who systematically monitored Sivko's movements, Sivko moved through the settlements of Zastenice, Grobnik and Dražice, approached horses and played with domestic dogs. A relatively long period of time spent in captivity during the critical years of the young wolf's life obviously made him keep closeness to humans whom he continued approaching and consider dogs his playmates rather than competitors or a potential prey.

The presence of a wolf of an unusual behaviour in settlements arouse disbelief and fear with people, and it was feared that he would be shot by some unconscientious individuals. Therefore the representatives of the Čavle municipality demanded from the Ministry of Culture to move Sivko from their area so as to avoid any conflict situation.

Therefore, as already said, on 23 March the members of the Emergency Response Team of the Ministry of Culture precisely located, anaesthetized and captured Sivko and brought him to the state asylum for protected animals in Rušćica, the only asylum in Croatia caring for wolves, or rather large carnivores.

The case of Sivko showed once more that wild animals belong to the wild and nature rather than our homes. Once detached from its environment, a wild animal is most likely lost for nature. Therefore a lot of effort is needed for experts to help it develop / retain the characteristic behaviour of the members of its species and make it capable of surviving after the return to the wild. It is a dangerous misconception that we help save threatened species by detaching the wolf's young or pups of other wild species and caring for them under "domestic" conditions. Namely, nature has its cycles and patterns which includes the natural selection. Human intervention only leads to new problems. The intention of the above mentioned action was to give Sivko the chance of a normal life in the wild, rather than sentence him to a lifelong captivity with no possibility of satisfying his mental and physiological need as a wild animal. However, a long period of captivity and a relatively small area of the Republic of Croatia lacking wide open spaces where a young wolf could learn the practical skills needed for an independent survival brought him back to humans. His unforeseeable behaviour not at all resembling the wolf's characteristic behaviour in the wild was potentially dangerous and there was no other way but to place Sivko into the asylum.

The entire case raised numerous questions and issues and pointed to new aspects to be tackled in the future. The project "Difficulties in Keeping Wild Animals in Captivity and Their Removal from Nature" which will be implemented with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the first step in addressing this issue with the aim to raise public awareness and educate the public in this problem area. Moreover, in the future it is planned to put a lot of effort in combating the poaching which is one of the major reasons for the existence of abandoned wild animal young and to establish a state asylum for large carnivores where their natural living conditions would be imitated as close as possible.