Of these, three will be directly at the State Nature Protection (ŠOP) of the Slovak Republic, namely the West, the Center and the East. Two will be in the Tatra National Park (TANAP) and the Low Tatras National Park (NAPANT). By the end of next year, the intervention teams of Muráň, Poloniny and Fatra are to be added. This follows from the proposal approved by the government on Wednesday.
“The main advantage of establishing intervention teams for brown bears in national parks is that the employees of the national parks administrations know the property conditions, user relations, local natural conditions and cooperate with the district authorities in the national park’s area of competence. The limited scope of a separate intervention team will make the coordination of all involved components more effective,” brought closer by the Ministry of the Environment (MŽP) of the Slovak Republic.
The establishment of these teams should also improve communication with municipalities, livestock breeders or users of hunting grounds. The existing five intervention teams North, South, West, Podpoľanie and Ponitrie will be replaced by three new teams – West, Center and East.
Strike Team West will operate in the districts of Bratislava I, Bratislava II, Bratislava III, Bratislava IV, Bratislava V, Malacky, Pezinok, Senec, Dunajská Streda, Galanta, Hlohovec, Piešťany, Senica, Skalica, Trnava, Bánovce nad Bebravou, Ilava, Myjava, Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Partizánske, Považská Bystrica, Prievidza, Púchov, Trenčín, Nitra, Šaľa, Topoľčany, Bytča.
In the districts of Komárno, Levice, Nitra, Nové Zámky, Zlaté Moravce, Banská Bystrica, Banská Štiavnica, Brezno, Detva, Krupina, Lučenec, Poltár, Veľký Krtíš, Zvolen, Žarnovica, Žiar nad Hronom will be the intervention team Stred. Strike Team East will have jurisdiction in the districts of Bardejov, Levoča, Medzilaborce, Prešov, Sabinov, Stropkov, Svidník, Vranov nad Topľou, Gelnica, Košice I, Košice II, Košice III, Košice IV, Košice-okolie, Michalovce, Spišská Nová Ves, Trebišov.
TANAP intervention team will be in charge of the districts of Liptovský Mikuláš, Kežmarok, Poprad and Stará Ľubovňa. The NAPANT Response Team will be in the districts of Liptovský Mikuláš, Banská Bystrica, Brezno, and Poprad.
“The current state of the personnel capacities of the intervention teams is 30 employees of the ŠOP. Five employees will be delimited from ŠOP as of January 1, 2025. The TANAP administration will have an intervention team for brown bears made up of six of its own employees,” explained the department. According to him, the NAPANT administration will have an intervention team made up of five delimited employees of ŠOP.
TANAP currently has service vehicles, scaring and killing equipment, observation, communication and documentation equipment as well as personal protective equipment. The administration of the Nízke Tatry National Park has service vehicles, observation, communication and documentation equipment as well as personal protective equipment.
“In the course of 2025, the administrations of the national parks will delimit additional necessary equipment and resources related to the activity of the intervention teams from the ŠOP,” declared the MoE. This year, on December 16, 1981, there were reports of damage, collisions and the occurrence of a bear. Last year there were 1644 reports.
