Pictured: Ore Mountains (illustrative image)
Pictured: Ore Mountains (illustrative image)Photo: André Karwath aka Aka, 2005 · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Hnutí Duha announced on 27 October 2026 that its monitoring in 2026 confirmed the birth of wolf pups in several areas of Czechia. These are the Ore Mountains, Jeseník, the Beskydy and Broumovsko.[1][2]

Monitoring results

In the Ore Mountains the monitoring found pups in three areas, in the Lusatian Mountains at two sites and in Jeseník in three areas. Pups were also born in the western Pošumaví. In Broumovsko the movement confirmed them in the area of the Javoří hory. In the Vsetínské Beskydy experts confirmed reproduction of the same pack as the year before, and pups were also found in the Moravskoslezské Beskydy and on the Slovak side of the eastern Javorníky.[1][2] According to the movement, other areas suggest possible reproduction that has yet to be confirmed.[1]

In Kokořínsko, unlike in 2025, the monitoring did not confirm the birth of pups. According to representatives of the movement, one possible cause could have been the collision of a wolf with a vehicle near Bezděz in the Česká Lípa District at the end of 2025. Genetic analyses of scat samples suggest that it was a male from the parent pair that sired last year's pups.[1][2]

Method of monitoring

Hnutí Duha documents the development of wolf occurrence, their reproduction and long-term population trends in selected areas together with volunteers from the Wolf and Lynx Patrols. It does not determine the overall numbers of animals. According to the movement, the patrols have operated for almost 25 years and monitor lynx, wildcats and, in some areas, bears as well as wolves.[1] Michal Feller, coordinator of Hnutí Duha Šelmy, said that repeated successful reproduction does not dramatically increase the number of wolves in a pack's territory, because most pups do not survive their first year of life.[1][2]

Chronology

  • — The Duha Movement announced that its monitoring confirmed the birth of wolf cubs this year in the Ore Mountains, the Jeseníky, the Beskids and the Broumov region. ČTK / České noviny Ekolist.cz

Sources

  1. ČTK / České noviny — 27 October 2026
  2. Ekolist.cz — 27 October 2026