A number of game species for which the population size and hunting intensity in Latvia meet the sustainability criteria are, under the international conventions and the EU legislation, on the EU/global list of endangered and, accordingly, protected species. However, in this respect the international regulations provide for exceptions in case there exist regular monitoring data to illustrate the local situation. The objective of monitoring is to collect regular data on internationally endangered but locally common wildlife species to demonstrate that their exploitation is sustainable and measures are taken to ensure their existence, taking into account the hunting intensity.

What wildlife species does the monitoring cover?

The SFS has a system of monitoring for the populations of wolf and lynx. Apart from the population census and summing up the annual cull the wolves and lynxes killed are subjected to investigation. The work was started six years ago with the financial support of the Danish Environmental Agency. Starting with the hunting season of 2000/2001 the monitoring of wolf and lynx is under a full responsibility of the SFS. The work is done in cooperation with the Latvian Forestry Research Institute “Silava”, the joint stock company “Latvijas valsts meþi” and the Latvian University. Recording the damage done by wolf to animal husbandry is also started.

Recording of the fresh traces of wolf and lynx on March 28, 2008.

Recording of the fresh traces of wolf and lynx simultaneously all over the country is practised to get operative information on their occurrence as these animals may stray over vast areas in short time, which is likely to distort the population estimates. In Latvia this method of assessing the population of wolf and lynx is practised already for the fifth year running. All the forest district offices received a description of the survey method and a sample of the field sheet. The task was to register the traces of the said species left over a time span of no more than 24 hours. This method is especially convenient for identifying the animals whose traces have been recorded repeatedly in one and the same vicinity. The analysis of survey results allow to reveal the cases where one and the same animals have been in the neighbouring beats, forest districts, and regions. However, it is to be taken into account that some individuals and lynx in particular, after hunting down a prey would stay close to it and show no signs of movement.

The method envisages recording also the weather during the survey as it affects the longevity of traces and the imprint quality. The day chosen for the action was one when the snow cover was all over the country, which was a rare case for the 2007/08 hunting season. Depending on the time of the day and the given locality, the air temperature was from –10 to +10° C. The deepest snow was in eastern Latvia. Still, in some places in the Austrumlatgale and Dienvidlatgale regional forest districts the snow was so deep that it was difficult to reach the sites where the traces were most likely to be encountered. All in all, the trace sharpness and imprint quality were poor because of the snow melting away very fast.  

For *wolf*, out of 648 beats included in the survey fresh traces were found in 182 beats (28.1%). In the regional forest districts of Dienvidkurzeme and Sēlija and also in the administrative regions of Talsi and Ventspils fresh traces of wolf were found in over a half of the beats surveyed. The lowest figures were for the regional forest districts of Rīga – Ogre and Ziemeļvidzeme.

As it happens recently, the fresh traces of *lynx* were more common as compared to wolf (in 253 (39%) beats out of 648). The highest occurrence of lynx was in the regional forest districts of Ziemeļvidzeme, Ziemeļaustrumi, Limbaži, and in the administrative region of Talsi, the lowest – in Zemgale and Dienvidkurzeme.
 
The highest occurrence of the fresh traces of big carnivores was in the administrative region of Talsi where during 24 hours wolf has been in 52% of the beats, and lynx – in 60%. As expected, the lowest figures (9.5% and 20.6% of the beats, respectively) were in the environs of Riga.

The number of shot wolves on 01.04.2010 - 175 individuals (hunting season is closed)

 The number of shot lynx on 01.04.2010 - 141 individual (hunting season is closed)

 The number of shot lynx on 23.02.2009 - 117 individuals

The number of shot wolves on 20.03.2009 - 200 individuals