Effect of actions supported by the National Game Management Fund according to the hunters in Hungary

Abstract

Since 2017, grants from the National Game Management Fund have supported the development of the habitats for the game species by providing hiding and feeding places for them and by the effective control of their predators. We evaluated the effects of these management actions on the local wildlife populations with a questionnaire survey among the supported game management units between 2018 and 2020. We asked them about their impressions or measured data regarding the size and quality of the game populations treated during the program. We compared the conditions before and after the interventions, specifying the methods in case of measurements. The 241 answers covered 35% of all the supported game management units. Most applicants (94%) rated their management actions as effective, while only 2% reported the contrary. Game managers collected data to measure the efficiency relatively infrequently (14±9% of the beneficiaries for each variable group in each target area, min-max: 3–44%). Much more often, they relied on non-scientific observations and perceptions (63±14%, min-max: 36–93%). We conclude that it would be necessary to evaluate the efficiency on the basis of systematic data collection and analyses (monitoring), at least with smaller samples at the level of game management units. Game managers should measure the use of the treated areas by the game species and the changes in the quantity and quality of the populations (e.g., camera trapping at drinking and feeding sites, spotlight counts of brown hares, estimating the reproduction, condition or trophy quality indices).