The European ground squirrels are animals that live in large groups. In ideal conditions, they will grow to several thousand members and gradually colonise the surrounding landscape, provided it is suitable and there is low vegetation – grassland, or mown lawns or meadows.
The red-footed falcon has been chosen by SOS/BirdLife Slovakia as Bird of the Year 2024 to raise awareness about the importance of its protection. These falcons travel over 7,000 kilometers from Africa to their breeding grounds—facing many dangers along the way.
In order to be able to implement targeted conservation measures for the protection and conservation of endangered butterfly species, it is necessary to know as many locations of these species and their host plants as possible at the current time. We are turning to you – nature lovers, who would like to help us with butterfly mapping.
Last year, we managed to successfully collect €100,000 to save a wetlands, launch several projects, release sturgeons into the Danube, restore grazing in several locations and even change the name, logo and visual identity.
Competition for water is high in the Danubian Lowland, especially during spring and summer. During those seasons, the water from the melioration canals is used to irrigate the surrounding fields.
Slovakia is the only country in Europe where the European Roller (Coracias garrulus) has returned to breed after being locally extinct for 10 years—thanks largely to dedicated conservation efforts.
We continued with the monitoring of amphibians at the locations of Dobrohošť, Kráľovská lúka, Bakanské rameno and its surroundings, Istragov and Dedinské ostrovy.
Three expert teams carried out inventory/mapping of butterflies in the 10 Natura 2000 sites. This involved 37 transects, each surveyed during 3 different periods, in order to identify species with varying flight times.
Installing nest boxes, artificial nests, and platforms is a well-established conservation practice supported by both science and experience. Across Europe and in Slovakia, such interventions have helped secure breeding sites for rare bird species that otherwise lack suitable natural options due to habitat loss or degradation.
It is not any news that the largest population of ground squirrels in Slovakia lives at the Bratislava airport. Well, these squirrels naturally also run into the open countryside from there, and the mowed grass meadows between the technical buildings provide them good living space.