News: Slovakia Diary: Final Update

Friday (01/09) was again poor weather with more rain forecast for Saturday. We decided to spend today surveying more trails in the forest zone. We moved our day off forward to Saturday so that we could head up to the ridge on Sunday. On our day off we drove to Banksa Bystrica to spend a few hours in the old part of the town which has a nice square and old buildings. Afterwards we went to the supermarket to stock up on food and beverages for a barbeque in the evening. The fine art of delegation ensured the smooth running of the evening's activities. Michaela was bar manager with Marc her underling bar tender. Dermot, Vicki, Georgia & Reija prepared salads.  Audrey  made a punch. Liam was the Crazy Fire Starter and easily won the race to start the fire using only a flint and steel. They did cheat a bit by using cotton wool as tinder rather than the more traditional birch bark. No guitar players this time, so we entertained ourselves with lateral thinking puzzles.

Observations on the ridge: Back to business on Sunday (03/09) and up to the main ridge for chamois  observation. We split into two groups. Reija, Michaela, Dermot, Liam, Michaela & Slavo went up to Chopok hut towards the eastern end of the ridge. I drove up to Durkova with Vicki, Georgia, Audrey and Marc. In the morning it was misty on the ridge so we waited until after lunch before heading out from the hut. In the afternoon we (Durkova crew) observed a group of two female chamois and also a lone male on the western side of Chabenec peak. This is probably  the most westerly record we have for chamois on the ridge. On our way back towards the hut, Marc startled the male chamois which had moved up onto the ridge. It ran off to about 15 metres away and we had good views of it during the moments when the mist cleared. The next morning (Monday) conditions were not good, low cloud covered the ridge. We stayed in the hut until mid-day playing cards (only discovering this morning that Marc's deck of cards,  which we were also using last night, was 11 cards short of a full deck). In the afternoon we headed out, despite very strong winds, and relocated the three animals we had seen the day before. Further along the ridge on the trail to Skalka peak we were able to observe another six chamois; females and one yearling. The Chopok crew also had good luck today and a total of  43 chamois were observed. Tuesday was also very windy and cold on the main ridge. The Durkova crew made more observations of the chamois group on the Skalka saddle and the Chopok crew were able to relocate the large group they had recorded yesterday near Derese. Some useful data have been collected over the last few days regarding numbers and distribution of chamois. Still worrying is the very low numbers of young kids that have been observed. Perhaps next year will be more productive for the chamois?

Wednesday and Thursday (06/09-07/09) were spent back in the forest zone surveying some tracks and areas not previously visited. The forest survey has covered a large area. Made possible of course only by dedicated team members. During this second slot of the expedition a total of 32 bear scats and eight wolf scats were collected. Once again it has not been possible to collect any lynx scats (the lynx usually buries its scat like a domestic cat does).  All three of these large predator species have been recorded in other areas preying on chamois. In our own study area there is some evidence, although not recent, of wolf predation on chamois: an observation on the ridge of two wolves hunting chamois, remains of one chamois killed by wolves, chamois remains in two wolf scats collected by Slavo. In total 59 bear scats and 22 wolf scats were collected this year. These scats have already been cleaned (the contents are broken apart in water) and dried. On Friday, our last day, Slavo showed us some of the dried samples. Initial examination shows that bear diet is largely blueberries at this time of year, wolf scats contain mainly remains from red deer and wild boar. The samples now need to examined under a microscope to carefully check if any contain direct evidence of chamois predation. Although this year's expedition has come to an end, there is still plenty of work ahead for Slavo and Michaela examining the samples, analysing the data and publishing the report.

A total of 44 data sheets were completed for chamois observations during this year's expedition (one data sheet corresponds to an observation of a group or single chamois). A cursory examination of this data suggests, as was true for the previous year, that the majority of chamois and largest groups are found in the eastern section of the survey area. This corresponds to the area with most cliffs and rugged rocky habitat. It is also the zone most used by tourists and hikers. It is likely that proximity to cliffs is important to chamois in the Tatry mountains where wolf predation is a threat. It is difficult for wolves to hunt chamois in this rugged terrain, in the less severe alpine meadows of the western ridge section chamois could be easy prey. In the Alps, where wolves are not present in significant numbers, chamois regularly use open meadows and even forest habitats around the tree line as feeding areas. The chamois in our study area may also be taking advantage of the presence of humans to avoid large predators. Nearly all the wolf scats we have collected have been from areas least used by humans. The wolves probably avoid the more heavily utilised areas in the eastern section. Our chamois observations would seem to suggest that the population is at best stable, but probably not increasing. Small isolated animal populations are known to be vulnerable to extinction and we can only hope that our Low Tatry chamois population will be sustainable in the future. As is often the case with ecological studies, the research is starting to provide answers to some of our questions but bringing up a lot of new ones.

Thursday night was our last at base camp and our final visit to the garage pub. After another table football marathon we headed back to Baileys, beer, backgammon and banter. Friday morning we packed up the kit, said our farewells to Slavo & Michaela, then made the drive back to Bratislava. For me the Slovakia expedition has once again been a great experience and I think we have successfully achieved our goals of safety, science and satisfaction. I would like to thank all the expedition members for  the hard work you have put in over the last four weeks. It was a privilege to meet and share this time with you. Also thanks for all the feedback we have received both on the forms and through our varied discussions over the last few days.  We do give serious consideration to all your comments and it will help us make improvements to the expedition for coming years. Slavo will be busy over the next few months analysing the data and preparing the research report. Everyone will be sent a copy. None of it would have been possible without you. Thanks again!

Paul Franklin
Expedition leader


More information on biosphere and its research can be found at http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/