Who will hunt moose in Poland?

The discussion about moose hunting in Poland is back. However, everything indicates that this time we will have the actual shooting of part of the moose population. As it turns out, there is a lot of money involved and it is not the hunters who want to shoot them.

A few days ago, an article appeared on the Naszemiasto.pl portal „Moose shot in Mazowsze. Will they share the fate of beavers and wild boars? „ According to the editors, the moose population reduction program may be launched soon in Mazovia, and this topic is not about hunters but farmers. Moose is not protected like a wolf, bear or bison, but hunting is not possible. Despite the fact that in the law it works in hunting calendars, hunting criteria and so on, we do not hunt moose. All thanks to the moose moratorium introduced in 2001, which means suspension and suspension of hunting for this species.

The moratorium is one thing, but no one probably told to moose’s not to throw their snoring out of the forest. It turns out that only in 2018 in Małopolska voivodship there were 1520 road accidents involving animals. In 2019, we had over 800 collisions in Podlasie, and only until the summer of 2019 there were 1,186 collisions in the Lubelskie voivodship (more by 230 compared to the same period in 2018). Some of these accidents involve moose accidents. Unfortunately, I did not get data from the vicinity of the Kampinos Park itself, but something tells me that here the moose will be one of the main participants in accidents involving animals.

Why I am writing about collisions in terms of moose hunting? Because some time ago I heard a very wise statement with which I completely agree. My colleague said the following sentence – moose hunting will be suspended as long as public opinion does not see such a necessity. When the public notices the need for hunting, such hunting will take place.

Everything indicates that this time is coming because as I mentioned farmers asked for hunting. According to Nasze Miasto news, farmers said that, the only way to reduce crop losses is to reduce the number of moose by hunting. An application in this matter has already been submitted to the Minister of Climate and it concerns the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. Even Warsaw City Forests are reporting more and more interventions related to moose. These are mainly accidents and collisions, however, more and more often we are dealing with a situation where mooses are unable to leave the area inhabited by people. They go to urban areas inattention or are driven by hunger. In 2015, it was very loud about the moose, which, according to many, almost drowned in the Vistula and which some wanted to save from drowning, forgetting that the moose is a great swimmer and diver who is able to take food even from a depth of several meters.

Insofar as in the case of the city itself the representatives of the city forests do not see the need to make a decision to shoot, in terms of the rest of the Mazowsze region hunting and reduction seems to be a real necessity.

Game is in fact owned by the government, and elk damage is also paid by the government. I believe that the damage caused by this animal will soon exceed the threshold at which the state, and hence our citizens, will want to suffer it. Then we will talk about reduction shots, and maybe even about the end of the moratorium. Some time ago, WWF’s position on the elk population reduction appeared in the network and you probably guessed what we can find there. However, I tried to find out how much WWF is trying to help farmers and the state, and thus our citizens, taking over the costs of accident treatment and hunting damage. If someone presses not to hunt and reduce, let them bear the consequences of such action and put money on the table paying for hunting damage instead of shouting that hunters are the worst evil in this world.

If the ministry agrees to the farmers’ request, Masovian hunters will be given the task of reducing the population of this species. I think that they will also be followed by farmers from other parts of the country and shots will also appear in other regions of Poland. Everything points to the fact that soon the old recipes will return to the hunting kitchen, e.g. elk nostrils which I wrote about here.

Happy Hunting!