Foto: BB.LV / Человек с ружьем
The meeting, which was also attended by David Scallan, the Executive Director of the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE), began on Tuesday with the celebration of St. Hubert's Day, the patron saint of hunters. For Lithuanian hunters, this is an important day that strengthens hunting traditions and community unity, as well as emphasizes the value of nature conservation and ethical hunting. On Wednesday, the main working day took place at the Hunting Research Laboratory of the Lithuanian University of Agriculture. Before the seminar, participants visited the Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum in Kaunas, founded in 1919. The museum features more than 14,000 exhibits, including stuffed animals, skeletons, and collections of insects and butterflies. The museum also has a hall of hunting trophies. The seminar addressed issues related to bears in Estonia and Latvia, the representation of hunters' interests, the European Union's nature restoration regulation, as well as strategic directions for FACE's activities. Additionally, participants compared the electronic hunting document systems of the three countries, models for managing hunting organizations, and innovations in legislation, as well as exchanged experiences in implementing national and European Union projects. On Thursday, participants visited the Čepkeliai nature trail and the European bison nursery in the Varėna district. Linda Dombrovska, a representative of Latvian hunters, spoke about the situation with brown bears in Latvia. According to the Latvian State Research Institute of Forests Silava, the bear population in the country was estimated at around 190 individuals last year. This figure has nearly doubled over the past five years. With the growth of the bear population, encounters between people and these animals have become more frequent. Hunters are encountering bears while hunting, and there have already been cases where the animals caused property damage or posed a threat to people. In Latvia, the bear is a strictly protected species, and a special permit is required to cull a problematic individual. The report noted the issue of a bear that caused damage moving to another area, while the issued permit is tied to a specific individual and incident. The legal responsibility of hunters in regulating the population of problematic bears was also raised as an important issue. Representatives of Lithuanian hunters discussed the distribution and monitoring of bears. Currently, it is estimated that there are between five and six bears in Lithuania, but the number of sightings has significantly increased in recent years. Last year, 65 sightings were recorded, and by the time of the meeting this year, there had already been 34. It was emphasized that the number of sightings does not equal the number of individuals. A publicly accessible bear sighting map, meskos.lt, has been created in Lithuania, which has been visited nearly three million times in less than two and a half years. This indicates a high public interest in bear distribution and related safety issues. The report also recalled the case of a bear that wandered into Vilnius in June of last year. Authorities initially decided to shoot the animal, but hunters refused to do so. After public outcry, the decision was reversed, and the bear left the city on its own. A scientific study of bears using GPS trackers is also planned in Lithuania to obtain more accurate information about their routes, habitats, and dietary habits.
