Reintroduction of Chamois in Northern Velebit

U povodu obilježavanja 30. obljetnice uspješne reintrodukcije divokoze na sjeverni Velebit u prvom dijelu članka predstavljena je monografija “Divokoza”, šumarnika Milana Kneževića, objavljena u Sarajevu prije 70 godina (1938.). Knjiga ni danas nije izgubila na značenju, jer se temelji na vlastitim istraživanjima balkanske podvrste divokoze, a prožeta je iskrenom lju­bavi pravog lovca spram divljači. Životu i djelu autora Milana Kneževića (Bihać, 1879 – Zavidovići, 1944), izuzetno nadarenom lovačkom piscu, po­sve­ćen je drugi dio članka. Maturiravši na šumarskom odjelu Tehničke srednje škole u Sarajevu 1898.g., odmah nakon položenog državnog ispita 1911. g. u svojstvu upravitelja šumarije službovao je u mnogim mjestima Bosne i Hercegovine, da bi od 1925. do 1935.g. bio na dužnosti referenta za lov i ribolov Rav­na­teljstva šuma u Sarajevu. Kao pasioniranom lovcu, usko povezanim s pri­rodom i divljači, najplodnije mu je to razdoblje u njegovu životu. Iako ga život nije mazio, često otpuštan iz službe, nepriznat i u afirmaciji onemogućen intelektualac, plodan je lovački pisac. Uz monografiju “Divokoza” i brojnih članaka objavljenih u zagrebačkom “Lovačko-ribarskom vjesniku”, sa sinom Ratkom Kneževićem, dipl. ing. šum. uspijeva okončati svoje najvrijednije djelo “Vuk – život, štetnost i tamanjenje”, koje je u nakladi Instituta za šumarstvo i drvnu industriju NR BiH objavljeno tek 1956. g. Posljednji prilog ovog članka posvećen je uspješnoj reintrodukciji divokoze na sjeverni Velebit, koja je u organizaciji tadašnjeg Republičkog zavoda za zaštitu prirode u Zagrebu i Šumskog gospodarstva Senj provedena u dva navrata: prvi put u jesen 1974. s unesenih 10 divokoza iz Prenja (BiH) i drugi put če­tiri godine kasnije, 10. listopada 1978., s 5 rasplodnih divokoza iz Kamniških Alpi (Slovenija). Novostvorena populacija koja danas stani NP Sjeverni Velebit te lovišta “Sveti Juraj” i “Jablanac”, danas broji oko 400 grla i podvrgnuta je gospodarenju (lovu).In tribute to the 30th anniversary of the successful reintroduction of chamois in northern Velebit, the first part of the article presents the monograph “Chamois”, written by the forester Milan Knežević and published in Sarajevo 70 years ago (1938). The book, based on the author’s own study of the Balkan chamois subspecies and imbued with love of the true hunter for the game, has not lost any of its significance and interest. The second part of the article is dedicated to the life and work of Milan Knežević (Bihać, 1879 – Zavidovići, 1944), an exceptionally talented game writer. He graduated from the Forestry Department of Technical High School in Sarajevo in 1898. Shortly after passing the state exam in 1911, he became a forest administration manager and worked in a number of forest offices across Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1925 to 1935 he was in charge of the hunting and fishing department within the Forestry Directorate in Sarajevo. This period of his life, marked by his passionate love for hunting, nature and wildlife, proved to be the most fruitful. Despite his rough life, frequent dismissals from the service and the inability to affirm himself as an intellectual, he was a prolific hunting writer. In addition to the monograph “Chamois” and a number of articles published in Zagreb-based “Hunting-Fishing Journal”, he succeeded in completing, in cooperation with his son Ratko Knežević, his most valuable work “The Wolf – Life, Harmfulness and Extermination”, which was only published in 1956 by the Institute of Forestry and Wood Industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The last part of the article deals with the successful reintroduction of chamois in northern Velebit. Organized by the Republic Institute for Nature Protection in Zagreb and Forest Administration in Senj, the reintroduction was conducted on two occasions: the first time in the autumn of 1974 with 9 introduced chamois from Prenj (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the second time four years later, on 10 October 1978, with 5 adult animals from the Kamnik Alps (Slovenia). The newly established population inhabiting the National Park of Northern Velebit and the hunting grounds “Sveti Juraj” and “Jablanac” is estimated at about 400 animals and is subjected to game management (hunting). However, despite these encouraging numbers, we cannot be satisfied with the current status of chamois in Croatia from the game hunting aspect. In the Croatian part of the Dinaric mountain range, from Gorski Kotar to the hinterland of Dubrovnik, there are vast areas that are very suitable for successful breeding of chamois; yet, these areas are completely under-utilized in this respect. According to some calculations made by competent experts who are thoroughly acquainted with the conditions in the terrain, about 70,000 ha would suffice for successful chamois breeding programes on Mt. Velebit. The major part of this area is chamois habitat of the first site class. In terms of animal number, this area could support about two thousand chamois, with an annual income of 480 animals and harvest of 250 animals (Car, 1972). The same number of chamois that were released in northern Velebit should also be released in central and southern Velebit for this purpose (Mikulić, 1982)