The Administration of the Tatra National Park (TANAP) warns that fireworks and firecrackers endanger animals. According to her, fireworks and firecrackers do not belong in the national park. He invites people to join the Silent New Year’s Eve initiative. He states it on the social network. According to TANAP, the Tatras, with their valleys and rock walls, create ideal acoustic conditions for sound propagation, for example from cannons.
“Many people still don’t realize how excessive noise and flashes affect wildlife. Chamois react to extreme stress with uncontrolled behavior. Whole herds often run away and end up in a critical situation, for example in deep snow, where their stay is exhausting, or in exposed gullies, in which they are at risk of falling or being swept away by an avalanche. Exertion in winter reduces the ability of animals to face adverse conditions,” informs TANAP.
For example, the turn of 2017 and 2018 was tragic for the telemetrically monitored chamois Jesica. “Probably the New Year’s Eve fun at the accommodation facility in Velická dolina caused her to run into the avalanche terrain, where she perished on the extremely icy surface,” states TANAP.
As he states, when restrictive measures do not help, the staff of the TANAP Administration appeal to humanity. “One New Year’s Eve celebration can indirectly cause the death of an animal that the celebrants may not even know about.” appeals to people to remember that they are only visitors in the Tatra nature, while the animals live there all year round.
Quiet New Year’s Eve 2024 is a nationwide challenge launched by the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic through its website National Parks of Slovakia. It points to the threat to the lives of animals caused by noisy pyrotechnics during New Year’s Eve celebrations every year.
