Mammal survey Pol'ana - De Zoogdiervereniging

SUMMARY by: Jan Buys and Jeroen Willemsen
From July 27th until August 4th 2005, the Veldwerkgroep (VWG) of the Dutch Mammal Society
(Zoogdiervereniging) paid a visit to the Pol’ana Biosphere reserve in Slovakia. A workshop in the summer is a
traditional part of the VWG’s yearly program, aimed at surveying mammal species which are rare or absent
in the Netherlands, and to extend and exchange knowledge of survey methods and species. Secondly, these
workshops abroad aim to enlarge the knowledge of presence and abundance of mammals, and to a lesser
extent of other fauna groups, in the area visited. The Pol’ana Biosphere reserve is situated in the central part
of Slovakia and covers vast areas of forested hills, intermingled with agricultural settlements.
Surveying bats was one of the core activities during the workshop, applying almost all available methods: bat
detectors, nets and checking for roosts in any type of building. This produced a lot of new data on bat roosts
(mainly colonies of bats in church lofts) and the species present in the area. Extraordinary was the catching of
a greater noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus) in a netting session in the northern part of the area. This was the
third specimen of this species recorded in Slovakia ever.
In the workshop small mammals were surveyed by setting out a variety of live traps in lines at 7 locations in
the south-eastern part of the area, mainly near the village of Látky. Over all 12 species of mice and shrew
were caught.
All together 54 species of mammals were encoutered during the workshop such as wolf, wild boar, pine and
beech marten, red squirrel, weasel and otter. Absolute highlight of the workshop was the sighting of a female
lynx with two cubs by three of the participants. Apart from mammals, considerable attention was given to
birds, butterflies and dragon flies. This yielded observations of 91 bird species, 75 butterfly species, 31
grasshopper and crickets species and 21 dragon fly species. Also a lot of observations of amphibians and
reptiles were made as well (15 species).
All the observations are recorded in a database that can be obtained from the Veldwerkgroep
(veldwerkgroep@zoogdiervereniging.nl).
Mammal survey Pol'ana (Slovakia) 2005 5