1. Some Animal Welfare Issues in Bulgaria Vocational High School of Veterinary Medicine Dobrich, Bulgaria animals in wildlife reserves / biodiversity in your region

2. Contents 1. Which kind(s) of wild animals is (are) typical for your region? 2. Does there exist a wildlife reserve in your region? 3. Do people in your region approve of this protection of wild animals / species or is there a conflict of interests (e.g. due to financial reasons or / and reasons concerning tourism / sportive activities)? 4. Where in your town / local environment and how can you and your fellow students be active for protection of species / wild animals? 5. How big (much) is the budget for protection of wild species in your city / region ? Who is giving the money (e.g. municipality, national government, private donators, …)? To give us a better understanding: Please, tell us some numbers for comparison (e.g. budget for culture, education, road construction,…).

3. 1. Which kind ( s) of wild animals is (are) typical for your region? Bulgaria Bulgaria Dobruja, is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast. The territory of Dobruja comprises Northern Dobruja, which is part of Romania, and Southern Dobruja, which belongs to Bulgaria. Bulgaria RomaniaDanubeBlack SeaDanube Delta RomanianBulgarian coastNorthern DobrujaSouthern Dobruja ↓ In the northeast where our town DOBRICH lies, in the typical steppe grassland zone of the Dobrudja you can meet animals like: Please, tell us in few words a bit about the natural habitat of those species in order to give us a better understanding of the natural environment of your region.

4. Roe deer Wild Boar Fox Wolf Steppe Polecat Capercaillie Common QuailTurtle Dove Grey Partridge

5. 2. Does there exist a wildlife reserve in your region? Is it organized locally, nationally or across the borders to a neighbour country? SREBARNA WILDLIFE RESERVE DURANKULAK LAKE

6. 3. Do people in your region approve of this protection of wild animals / species or is there a conflict of interests (e.g. due to financial reasons or / and reasons concerning tourism / sportive activities)? YES, people approve the protection of wild animals Example: White-fronted and Red-breasted Geese in Durankulak and Shabla lakes Ornithologists from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and the Trust for Waterfowl and Wetlands (WWT) managed to catch six Red breasted geese and thirty White fronted geese. The geese were ringed with colored bands, and mini GPS transmitters were attached to the Red breasted geese. This study aims to monitor the behavior and movements of the birds near their traditional wintering sites around the lakes of Shabla and Durankulak and is part of the project “Conservation of the wintering population of the Red-breasted Goose” funded by the Life + Programme of the European Union.

7. 4. Where in your town / local environment and how can you and your fellow students be active for protection of species / wild animals?

11. 5. How big (much) is the budget for protection of wild species in your city / region ? Who is giving the money (e.g. municipality, national government, private donators, …)? To give us a better understanding: Please, tell us some numbers for comparison (e.g. budget for culture, education, road construction,…). The budget for wildlife protection is very limited in each Bulgarian municipality because of the lack of enough financial resources in the government’s year budget. Most municipalities rely on money support from European protection programs and co-finance some of the initiatives. The total budget for animal husbandry in Bulgaria for 2011 is at about 27 million euros. What part of them are for wildlife protection, we couldn’t find it, surely it won’t be too much… for ex: budget for culture 2011- 45 million euros (the worst in Europe)!!! budget for education 2011- 3,3 % of the total budget; It was 4,2 % in 2010. budget for road construction- 500 000 million euros for 2011 because of the country’s priority for building 7 highways, 7 main roads, 2 bridges over Danube river, a mountain tunnel till 2020.

12. Thank you for your attention !!!

13.  ‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’ This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’