Nature Conservation 1/2013 — 12. 5. 2013 — Nature and Landscape Management — Print article in pdf
Stýblo P. N. & Orel P.: National Network of Wild Animal Rescue Stations in the Czech Republic – Hist
historie, současnost, výsledky
In the Czech Republic, the first attempts to systematically carry out the care for injured wild animals dated back to the1970s.
In 1983, the Wild Animal Rescue Station in Bartošovice na Moravě had been established, followed by other (Praha, Chomutov, Horažďovice, etc.). In 1997, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (CSOP) initiated launching a comprehensive wild injured animal care system covering the whole Czech Republics territory. Thus, the National Network of Wild Animal Rescue Stations in the Czech Republic was established, nowadays putting together 28 facilities (stations, sanctuaries and shelters). The main aim of the network is to provide temporarily injured wild animals with necessary help and after the treatment to allow them to be released back into the wild. In addition, the network also deals with communication, education and public awareness. The annual costs for running the network are approx. 30 million CZK (1.18 million euros) while annual costs for the individual stations range from 0.25 to 3.3 million CZK (10,000 – 130,000 euros), depending on the size of the area where the station operates, its equipment and activities provided. The network is funded by national subvention programmes/subsidiary schemes (the Landscape Management Programme), regional and municipal authorities, public fund-raising campaigns (A Wild Animal in Need) and private donors, some activities recently also from the European Unions funds (The Operational Programme “Environment”).