Peep Männil, a wildlife expert at the Estonian Environmental Agency, said drones, hunting cameras and observations are used to determine the number of large carnivores, but none of them are definitely intent on attacking humans, writes ERR News.
Männil, who studies wolves, said that it is possible to estimate the number of large carnivores in the wild, but that an accurate count is not possible, and most of these animals are active at night. The scientist noted that the only large animals that are individually counted are gray seals, and this is only possible because they gather in larger packs on the ice and coasts in spring and summer to change their fur, and then they are counted using drones.
Monitoring methods for large terrestrial animals rely on counting signs of activity or selecting a specific group in the population (for example, females with cubs). Large carnivores – wolves, lynxes, bears and jackals – are also counted based on observations. Männil added, however, that these are random observations. Hunters are also asked to collect certain data, and monitoring is divided into two parts – first the hunters collect initial information, and then the Environmental Board works with it.
In some areas, counting is not carried out, for example, in protected areas.
The Environmental Agency also collects its own data, especially regarding wolves – the researcher said that these animals have a very high reproductive potential, and their number can change significantly during the year.
Männil emphasized that large animals in Estonia do not hunt people, and are afraid of them. In Estonian nature, people are “hunted” by insects – midges, ticks and mosquitoes. He added that a female bear may attack to protect her cubs, in which case it is better to retreat when you see a bear, and most accidents occur when neither the person nor the bear notices each other until they get too close to each other. The highest risk of encountering a bear is in the spring, when the cubs are still too small to follow their mother, and the same applies to wild boars – a sow can attack when the cubs are sleeping. However, usually the animals hear a person approaching from afar and leave in time.
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