Grey wolf
The grey wolf (Canis lupus) is one of the most controversial and the most admired species. Although indigenous people from the North America, German, and also Slavic nations in Europe worship and respect the wolf, over time with the development of Western civilization people started to pursue wolves. These intelligent and shy animals have become the victims of tales about bloodthirsty beasts.
After the total extermination in previous centuries, wolves started to return to the Czech Republic in the late ninetiess. Despite good habitat conditions in many forested border areas, their presence has been limited to the eastern part of the country - the Beskydy Mountains. One or two packs occurred there, but in the last two years just single wolves were recorded. Rarely it has occurred also in other mountains - Bohemian forest or Jeseníky.
Photo: Karel Brož
Current distribution of the gray wolf in the Czech Republic (edited accoriding to Červený et al., 2005).
