Slavc (, diminutive of ''Slavko'') is a male

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

whose migration was being

electronically tracked Electronic tagging is a form of surveillance that uses an electronic device affixed to a person. In some jurisdictions, an electronic tag fitted above the ankle is used for people as part of their bail or probation conditions. It is also used in ...

by the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

department between July 2011 and August 2012, through usage of a

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as ...

wildlife collar. The wolf was being tracked as part of an EU-project named ''SloWolf''. His location was transmitted every three hours. Slavc was born as part of the wolf pack named ''Slavnik''. The wolf pack Slavnik inhabits the area roughly from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, through

Hrpelje-Kozina The Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina (; sl, Občina Hrpelje - Kozina) is a municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.Učka The Učka ([], it, Monte Maggiore) is a mountain range in western Croatia. It rises behind the Opatija riviera, on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula. It forms a single morphological unit together with the Ćićarija range which stretches ...

mountain range in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. In July 2011, he was collared by the biologist Hubert Potočnik. Slavc had stayed with his pack until December of the same year. His dispersal from the pack had started on 19 December 2011. At the beginning of his journey he initially headed southwards, towards

Ćićarija Ćićarija ( sl, Čičarija; it, Cicceria, Monti della Vena; ruo, Cicearia; german: Tschitschen Boden), is a mountainous plateau in the northern and northeastern part of the Istria peninsula, long and wide. It mostly lies in Croatia, while its ...

. He then headed northwards where he traversed

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

, Trnova forest, went through

Ljubljana Basin The Ljubljana Basin ( sl, Ljubljanska kotlina) is a basin in the upper river basin of Sava. It is the most populated area in Slovenia and it is metropolitan area of Ljubljana. Its main rivers are the Sava, the Kamnik Bistrica and the Ljubljanica ...

and reached the vicinity of

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

within 10 days. The data transmitted by his collar suggests that Slavc had swum across the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

river at a location where the river is wide with no bridges nearby. Some of the mountain passes the wolf crossed were at elevations of and with snow covers that were deep. By March 2012 Slavc had arrived in the

Valpolicella Valpolicella (, , ) is a viticulture (wine), viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy (wine), Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine producti ...

, part of Verona province in Italy. His sighting was the first sighting of a wolf in the wild in Verona in more than 130 years. He then moved back north towards the Lessinia Regional Nature Park. Park managers had given word to Slovene biologists about tracks of two canids that they had found there. The wolf had met a female mate there, nicknamed Juliet. Slavc's collar was programmed to drop off automatically in August 2012. Slavc is assumed to be still in Lessinia where he had two pups with his mate. Latest information indicates that the pair had another litter in 2014. The journey has seen Slavc travel for around in total.

References

{{Reflist Individual wolves 2009 animal births Fauna of Slovenia Individual wild animals

See also

References