Jelko – a new wolf with telemetry collar in Slovenia

In the first week of November, researchers from Biotechnical Faculty in Ljubljana caught and GPS -collared a young wolf. They named it Jelko after the area where he was captured (Jelovica). This is the first wolf that was collared in the scope of the LIFE WOLFALPS EU project, and will give the researchers valuable data on the wolf’s movements and activity. By tracking his movements, they will also be able to monitor the whereabouts of his pack until his independence.

Since 2010 there was only one territorial wolf present in this area, in 2018/2019 a pack was formed and Jelko is a wolf from the pack’s second litter. The wolf packs were absent in this area for several decades, and the data provided by Jelko’s collar will help researchers get a good picture of the extent of the territory of one of the first Slovenian Alpine wolf packs. The obtained data will also help with the wolf management and adoption of measures to reduce conflict with wolves in the Alpine region in Slovenia as well as in broader international Alpine space.