Żubr Fund stands up for the wolf and bear

The Żubr Fund and the Dziedzictwo Przyrodnicze Foundation join forces within a project dedicated to wolves and bears, with the aim of drawing special attention to the needs and rights of animals which, despite strict protection, are still endangered.

Our top priority is legal assistance in crisis situations involving wolves and bears. These situations most often involve deforestation in the habitats of bears and in places where they hibernate, which leads to the destruction of these predators' habitats.

In the previous years, there have been numerous crisis situations, including the shooting of two young she-wolves in the region of Podkarpacie without expert recognition or deforestation in the Bieszczady Mountains in the areas where bears hibernate. Supported by the Żubr Fund, the Dziedzictwo Przyrodnicze Foundation has been actively involved in these and other cases. The Foundation's team aims to strengthen the protection of wolves in the Carpathian Forest and the protection of bear hibernation sites in the Bieszczady Mountains. The project involves a team of biologists, lawyers, and journalists. At the same time, for several years now, the Foundation has been advocating for the creation of intervention groups capable of professionally resolving conflicts between large predators and humans.

- In order to successfully protect the brown bear in its habitat in the Bieszczady Mountains, we should create logging exclusion zones and not limit ourselves to just the trees around bear's lair but also extend year-round protection to the surrounding forest. In the old trees growing next to the liar, bears may establish another den in the future – emphasizes Radosław Michalski, President of the Dziedzictwo Przyrodnicze Foundation.

In Poland, for the past 80 years, most incidents involving wolves that resulted in direct confrontations between the animals and humans were primarily caused by human interference. There is a lot of misinformation circulating about this species. Fear is often stirred by materials depicting aggressive "packs." According to some hunters, wolves might deplete the forest "game," but in reality, wolves themselves fall victim to poachers. Although wolves, as natural predators, may prey on livestock, farmers are compensated through a specially developed system. According to experts, maintaining strict legal protection for the wolf is crucial for ensuring the safe population of the species. Wolves play a role in maintaining ecological balance, assisting in the management of populations of other animal species, relieving the pressure on hunters.

Fifth year of the Żubr Fund’s operations

Protection of endangered species is the primary mission of the Żubr Fund established by Kompania Piwowarska’s Żubr brand. The Fund's purpose is to educate the society and to rescue and protect wildlife in Poland's most ecologically valuable regions. Therefore, it supports both long-term initiatives for nature conservation and those that require swift, immediate action.

Over four years of operation, the Żubr Fund has supported pro-environmental organizations, governmental entities and scientific institutions. Together with the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the following activities have been carried out: 
- purchase of specialized equipment for the Białowieża National Park,
- purchase of a supercomputer, i.e., specialized equipment using AI to process data from detectors installed in the forest,
- campaign aming to improve the image of bats combined with erecting special towers for them.

Over the course of last the year’s campaign, the Żubr Fund supported the Dziedzictwo Przyrodnicze Foundation by helping to report further 50 protection zones serving as micro-reserves and securing 15 ha of eternal forests in the northeastern regions of Poland. The second executed project of the Polish Society for Nature Conservation “Salamandra” was focused on restoring the population of ground squirrel. 

More info at: https://funduszzubra.pl