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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 January 2025
Introduction
In this chapter, we aim to answer three main research questions concerning the social and legal factors that affect the fight against the illegal killing of wolves in Poland: What factors influence the jurisprudence of this country's courts in cases concerning these theriocides? What social factors entail that the illegal killing of wolves may be tolerated by the general public in Poland? Finally, what are the greatest difficulties facing law enforcement agencies in effectively counteracting the illegal killing of wolves in this country?
The data obtained for this study were acquired from a scientific literature review, and analysis of law and court judgments published in the Commercial Law Information Systems mostly used in Poland (Grobelny and Wysocki 2018) as well as on the portal of Polish common courts’ judgments (http://orz ecze nia.ms.gov.pl) and websites of wildlife foundations that monitor such cases (that is, Stowarzyszenie ‘Z Szarym za Płotem’, Fundacja WWF Polska, Stowarzyszenie dla Natury ‘Wilk’). The current standardized texts of legal Acts were obtained via access to the Internet Legal Acts System (ISAP). It should be noted that there are no official statistics for crimes related to protected species of wildlife, including wolves, in Poland, but wolf theriocides reported by the general public to the law enforcement authorities in Poland every year are significant and increasing (Paquel 2016).
Research conducted by Nowak et al (2021) showed that between 2002 and 2020 there were 91 cases of slain wolves, of whom 54 (59.3 per cent) were shot and 37 (40.7 per cent) trapped. The illegal shooting occurred in the geographical ranges of all wolf populations that are present in Poland: Central European, Baltic and Carpathian. These figures are not reflected in official statistics, and even less in the outcomes of proceedings involving prosecutions or court judgments. According to studies conducted in 2017, the number of people convicted each year by criminal courts for crimes against animals (both domestic and wild) has remained at a similar, low level since 2010. For example, in 2017, 1,869 people were convicted for crimes against animals; in 2016 the number was 1,673; in 2015 it was 1,846 (Czarna Owca Foundation 2018).
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