Nina Obžutová from the communications department of the TANAP Administration stated this in response to media information about exceptions to supplementary feeding. She pointed out that the aim of the measures is to improve the conditions of animals in times of emergency.
“With the 2020 amendment of the Act on the Protection of Nature and Landscape, the conditions for feeding have changed in the third and higher levels of protection. That’s why the TANAP Administration asked the relevant environmental authorities for the necessary approvals and exemptions, so that it could implement animal feeding as it was customary decades before,” Obžutová explained. Currently, such care is prohibited by law.
In the highest level of protection The TANAP administration requested an exception due to the care of protected animals, especially the High Tatras chamois, which conservationists want to feed with rock salt and dried rowan. According to Gabriela Chovancová, zoologist of the TANAP Administration, the decrease in the number of chamois can be an indication of its deteriorating health.
“We also consulted with other experts, for example, from the field of veterinary science, about the feeding of chamois animals and its justification. They confirmed to us that feeding in the alpine zone is justified in order to ensure a satisfactory condition to withstand critical climatic conditions,” she said.
According to her, the animal is in good condition it better resists parasitic diseases and, conversely, less fit individuals may subsequently have impaired reproductive capacity, reduced fertility and a lower number of young. The zoologist adds that the administration of rock salt with microelements significantly helps to improve the immunity, resistance and vitality of the organism.
In the lower levels of nature protection, the TANAP Administration requested approval to supplement animal feed with bulk feed, i.e. hay, rock salt as mineral and fleshy feed.
“Hay bales and hay bales serve as animal food only in times of need. In order for the TANAP Administration to supplement the lower levels of protection in this way, it asked the authorities for the necessary approvals and exceptions. The state of emergency is declared by the district office in the seat of the region. According to the Act on Hunting, animal feeding is bound exclusively to a state of emergency,” argues Ľubomír Plučinský, head of the Department of Works of Public Importance.
Obžutová added that locations where they ask for a permit for feeding, there are places where animals are used to coming for food for decades. They are located near the wintering grounds of deer. “At the same time, thanks to enough food, we will keep the animals in their natural environment, which is a prevention so that they do not cause damage to agricultural crops and forest stands. We also reduce the risk of their synanthropization,” emphasized Obžutová.
According to conservationists, due to the lack of food in natural habitats, animals tend to flock to human dwellings, and in the case of chamois, to hiking trails. At the same time, the TANAP report assures that it can manage feeding in a way that avoids attracting predators, such as bears. He only wants to feed in times of need and with feed that is not attractive to the beast.
