European WILDLIFE

Although temperatures at night recorded in a large herbivore reserve located in the former military training area of Milovice near Prague have fallen to minus 20 degrees Celsius in recent days, herds of wild horses, European bison and aurochs produced through a back-breeding programme do not mind cruel frosts. They find sufficient food in the pasture land, be it in the form of dry grass under snow that they can dig out or branches, twigs …

Wild horses coming from Exmoor in England will help preserve two unique localities in Podyji National Park, on the border between the Czech Republic and Austria. Eleven animals brought from England should settle in the National Park this year. The preparations for their arrival started last year in September.

In Podyji the animals will maintain a total area of nearly 70 ha. ‘‘In contrast to domestic animals, they are not choosy and they graze even …

Situated on the outskirts of Milovice near Prague in the former military area of the same name, the neglected plot of land was overgrown with weeds two years ago. Today, thanks to the pasture of wild horses and aurochs, the locality is abundant with protected flowers and animals.

The numbers of two of the rarest of species in the local steppe, star gentian and the mountain Alcon blue, have skyrocketed. Scientists counted 226 blooming clumps …

Representatives of the Austrian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature, better known under the abbreviation of WWF and thanks to a black and white panda in its logo, visited a reserve of large herbivores in the former military area of Milovice today.

Six experts came to get acquainted with the experience of the project which uses wild horses, wisents and backbred aurochs to preserve wild steppes. It has gained international success thanks to …

Non-intervention management, in which the landscape is left completely to natural processes, was a controversial topic for conservationists for a long time. On the one hand, this approach represents the highest degree of nature conservation, but on the other hand, when left without any human influence, many biotopes lost their diversity and a significant loss of endangered species occurred. The negative consequences of non-intervention management have been discussed for many years, especially due to its …