University Facility for Breeding and Diseases of Game, Fish and Bees in Rozhanovce

Characteristic of the workplace

The reserved hunting area of the Universty of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice (UVMP) in Rozhanovice, including a separate pheasantry as the part of Special facility for breeding and diseases of game, fish and bees in Rozhanovce was established in 1966, then the game preserve „Obora“ Rozhanovce in 1967 and Forest hunting ground Makovica was established 1970.

Civilization pressures on the landscape caused by intensification of agriculture, exhalations from industrial activity, as well as the development of urbanization, transport, non-ecological interventions in landscape greenery and others caused a very rapid decline particularly small wild game. Nature has ceased to provide conditions for the reproduction and survival of this wild game, so their numbers have fallen to a minimum. The most declined numbers of wild game were of partridges, pheasants and rabbits.

It was an all-society interest to stop the trends of the deprivation of numbers and to create conditions for wildlife. This meant giving differentiated care to the endangered species, protect ecosystems and improve the living conditions of animals. The starting point to preserve the the genofond of endangered species and their re-introduction into nature are the artificial breedings that are the mainstay of the activity of the special facility of the UVMP.

The pioneering work was carried out by the special facility in Rozhanovce when introducing and securing the farm breeding of the partridge. It was necessary to build all breeding and rearing establishments, to test the appropriate breeding technology and the optimal feed mixtures with respect to the ethological traits and differences in the behavior of the partridge in the captivity. The artificial breeding of this game is very demanding and the results can be affected by various factors such as morbidity, the quality of feeds, stress, a number of breeding devices or predators.

The design of game preserve Obora was carried out by top experts from the field of animal breeding from the Research Institute of Forestry and Hunting in Zbraslav (Czech Republic). Complete infrastructure such as solid, asphalt roads,numerous feeders, bulk feeders, trapping devices for animals, as well as hunting bryony and other hunting equipments were built. Because fallow deer and mouflon did not occur in this region, it was necessary to import the game mostly of Czech origin. At that time (the end of the 1960s), the quality of fallow deer in the former Czechoslovakia was very poor, and therefore the game released into the gamekeeper's farm reflected that fact. A fundamental turnaround occurred in the 1970s, when the first import of high-quality fallow deer from Hungary (Gyulay) into the game preserve Obora, thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic was carried out. Appropriate animal husbandry as well as professional personnel management have made it possible to increase the number of animals of gyulae origin so much that it was possible to start breeding with other breeding grounds in Slovakia and thus to create the foundation of a quality fallow deer population.

The breeding of protected animal species was focused on the breeding of the falcon (lat. Falco cherrug, Falco peregrinus), which was established in 1991. This artificial breeding was the only breeding approved by the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava. These predators were reared for the biological protection of airports (Falco peregrinus) and for reintroduction into the original biotope (Falco cherrug). This breeding was a joint workplace with the Military Research Veterinary and Training Institute in Košice (MRVTI). After the end of the MRVTI´s activities in 2004, this artificial breeding of falcons also disappeared.