Two of the bison released in Romania’s Tarcu Mountains have been killed by a pack of stray dogs, according to WWF Romania organization.

The WWF-Rewilding rangers went last week to check how the herd of bison released in the Tarcu Mountains was doing, and found four animals dead, due to a “combination of factors.”

“The WWF team went in the area together with the veterinarian and members of the association that manages the hunting fund, analyzed the data, the traces on the corpses and around them, as well as the records from the surveillance cameras installed in the area, concluding that a pack of wild dogs has hunted and attacked at least two of the dead bison, both male,” according to a WWF statement.

Winter is a tough period for the bison, as they use a lot of energy and heat looking for food. The weakest animals are driven out from the heard because they could endanger the entire group by drawing the predators’ attention. This is what happened to the four dead animals, two of them being attacked and killed by the stray dogs.

According to WWF, there is a pack of 15 wild dogs in the area, which has grown to become a critical problem. This pack is currently the most powerful group of predators in the area, making an unfair competition to the wolves. They significantly diminish the number of wild animals that are food for the wolves, such as deer, wild boars and rabbits, and thus the wolves are no longer attracted by a high biodiversity and are less likely to form a pack.

A recent study shows that the stray dogs and those from the sheepfold left unsupervised have a significant impact on the wild species, by transmitting diseases or by killing various species of wild animals. Managers of hunting funds often complained about the unsupervised herding dogs’ attacks, which form packs and kill wild animals.

These stray dogs also breed more often than the wolves. Unlike the natural predator, all female dog breed and not just the alpha female.   Moreover, the female dogs can mate several times a year while the wolf mates only in the breeding season. In two generations, these dogs became wild.Watch a video of such wild dogs in the video below.

WWF Romania proposes a number of measures that could lead to a lower number of dogs roaming the wild, such as information campaigns about the responsibility of owning a dog and demonstration campaigns for castration and treatment of stray dogs, and the local authorities’ involvement in projects focused on the sterilization, vaccination and microchipping of dogs and abandonment prevention. Moreover, the organization proposes farmers to no longer use crossbred specimens, but only traditional herding dog breeds. They should also feed them properly, and vaccinate them.

The Romanian Government tried last year to limit the number of dogs a sheepfold could have but then decided to suspend the rule after the shepherds organized a massive protest in Bucharest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGPQxiqm1fQ

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Wwf.ro, photo credit: Matei Minculescu)