European WILDLIFE

The rare plant, cross gentian, characterised by its violet-blue flowers, ranks among endangered species in Central Europe. The recipe for its rescue was tested by scientists and conservationists in the former military area of Milovice near Prague. After a reserve of large ungulates was established in the location, the numbers of this endangered flower species have increased by an unbelievable 367 per cent. In addition, the numbers of young plants have even increased by more …

A population census of endangered plant, the cross gentian (Gentiana cruciata), is taking place in a nature reserve maintained by wild horses, European bison and back-bred aurochs located in the former military area Milovice, near Prague. The data that scientists have collected so far show that the arrival of large ungulates has significantly helped the endangered flora.

“The cross gentian is a perennial that takes many years to respond to changes in the …

From today, the entire area of the Luznice Meanders Reserve can be used by a herd of wild horses that have been in this locality since the autumn of last year. Now they have an area of twenty-four hectares at their disposal. Of these, 17 hectares are pastures, and the remaining area is covered with pools, shrubs and tree stands.

“We brought the wild horses here last year in mid-November. However, the heavily waterlogged terrain …

Since the former Milovice Military Training Area, which is largely covered by a hoofed-animal reserve, is extremely rich in rare bird species. This has been confirmed by observations of ornithologists, who repeatedly monitored the area this spring.

“This is an utterly unique bird location. An exceptional refugium of bird diversity,” emphasised David Storch from the Centre for Theoretical Study at Charles University in Prague and the Czech Academy of Sciences. During two days of observation, …

Since its establishment near Milovice not far from the capital of Prague in 2015, the reserve for wild horses and other large ungulates has undergone such a positive transformation that is hard to believe. The original neglected land of a former military area full of illegal dumps dominated by a few species of aggressive grasses has been gradually replaced by species-rich pastures.

Their diversity surprised even the scientists who conducted surveys in the location in …