DAMAGE BY GAME ANIMALS IN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

• Main Author: Monika Sporek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Life Sciences in Poznań 2014-06-01
• Series: Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development
• Subjects: agrocenoses; game animals; hunting compensations
• Online Access: http://www.jard.edu.pl/tom32/zeszyt2/art_17.pdf

In the recent years the damage caused by the game animals to the agricultural crops has increased considerably. An immediate cause of this situation is an expanding population of big game, especially wild boar. This increase is primarily due to the changes in agrocenoses, dominated by large area maize cropping. The crop damage is compensated by hunting associations leasing the specific areas. The aim of this paper was to present the costs of the compensation incurred by the lease-holders of the hunting grounds. A cause - effect relationship between greater game damage and increased harvest of the game animals was demonstrated. The analysis was based on the data provided in the Statistical Yearbooks of the Central Statistical Office for 2000-2013. The study also indicated a problem of a decline in roe deer population, caused by more intense harvest resulting from farmer compensation claims.