Nature park Piva wildlife – Brown bear cached and marked

As part of the project “Bear in Mind – Bringing environmental actions for the biodiversity protection across the borders" funded by the European Union, for the purpose of telemetry monitoring via satellite, a brown bear (Ursus arctos) was captured and tagged with a GPS transmitter. It is the first bear caught in the area of ​​the “Piva" nature park for scientific purposes, and its movement, habitat, feeding dynamics, as well as other, scientifically interesting habits will be monitored.

The bear was caught at the Borje site and was named Borko accordingly. This year, for the purpose of telemetry monitoring, it is planned to mark another brown bear, this time on the territory of the “Durmitor" national park. The data obtained in this way will, among other things, serve for the development of the brown bear Management plan for the territory of the protected areas of the “Piva" nature park and the “Durmitor" national park, which are the end users of the project.

The implemented activity, apart from the scientific-research aspect, will help to present to the general public in the right way a wild animal like a brown bear, and in that way break down prejudices, misconceptions and fear of this animal.

“Information on the movement and behavior of Borko bear, which will be collected and published, will show that this species is not an attacker that destroys everything around it, but that it is a very cautious animal, which prefers to avoid humans. In this way, people  will better understand its immeasurably significant role in the forest ecosystem, as one of the most valuable representatives of biological diversity, which has a major role in its conservation “- said veterinarian Slaven Reljić.

The BEAR in Mind project, implemented by the Center for the Protection and Research of Birds in cooperation with partner organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ornithological Society “Naše ptice" and the Association for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development “Naša baština"), is funded by the European Union, within the IPA Cross-border Cooperation Program Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2014-2020, as well as the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro through the program of co-financing projects and programs of non-governmental organizations supported by European Union funds for 2020.

The project is designed in such a way that the protection of biological diversity in the cross-border area of ​​Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro is a central theme, and in this way to protect the species characteristic for the region. This will ensure the protection of the ecosystems of these sites (especially important forests), all through the implementation of a number of activities such as: strengthening the capacity of administrative units of protected areas and the civil sector in the field of environmental protection, development of monitoring protocols and management plans for protected birds and mammals species in accordance with EU directives and raising the awareness of the local population about the benefits of higher standards in terms of protection of endangered species.