New Insights from Our Wolf Research Partnership: Students Step Into the Field

As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Technical University of Zvolen, we are pleased to share a new update from researcher Nuno Guimarães PhD. For the 2025/2026 academic year, his long-term research on large carnivores — with a focus on the grey wolf and golden jackal — now includes a hands-on training opportunity for students who want to learn real wildlife monitoring skills. With support from Mountain Wolf, these students gain much more than academic knowledge: they participate directly in field surveys, develop practical competencies, and prepare for future careers in wildlife conservation, environmental research, and sustainable ecosystem management.

Before starting their own bachelor theses, students join Nuno during field monitoring sessions. In these training phases, they learn:

• how to plan fieldwork and structure monitoring routes
• how to select optimal locations for installing camera traps
• how to identify field signs, read tracks, and document findings using GPS and field apps
• how weather, terrain, and seasonal conditions influence wildlife behaviour and research design

This hands-on approach gives students an experience that simply cannot be replicated in a classroom.

Barbora is conducting research on grey wolves living in and around a Slovak mountain village. Her project focuses on:

• documenting wolf presence in the area
• understanding movement patterns along natural corridors
• identifying promising locations for camera-trap deployment

Through repeated transect surveys and cooperation with local foresters and hunters, she gathers valuable data on territorial use and wolf activity. But her project goes beyond ecological monitoring. Using a community questionnaire, Barbora also examines how locals perceive the presence of wolves.

Do residents view wolves as a natural part of the landscape? A threat? A competitor? Or even as an opportunity for nature-based tourism?

By combining ecological and social perspectives, her research aims to deepen understanding of human–predator coexistence and the factors shaping public attitudes.

Štefan focuses on the golden jackal, a species that has only recently expanded into Slovakia. His research examines whether jackals integrate naturally into wetland ecosystems or if their presence could affect native wildlife.

His bachelor project combines three complementary monitoring techniques:

1. Transect surveys to detect tracks and other field signs
2. Camera traps to document species diversity and jackal activity
3. Bioacoustic monitoring to broaden the detection range and capture vocalizations

Close collaboration with foresters, hunters, and fishermen helps Štefan identify effective monitoring locations and gather essential ecological insights.

The results will improve understanding of how jackals interact with native species — including potential overlap with wolves — and whether their presence raises ecological concerns. He has already presented his early findings successfully at a scientific conference.

These student-led projects highlight the importance of practical, science-based conservation work — and how Mountain Wolf’s support helps young researchers gain critical field experience while contributing to the long-term understanding of wolves, jackals, and the ecosystems they inhabit.

We are proud to be part of this journey and remain committed to supporting wildlife conservation, ecological research, and sustainable coexistence between humans and predators.