EXPERIENCES AND ACTIVITIES WITH THE LOŠKI POTOK HUNTING CLUB
Bear Watching And Photo Hunting
Schedule your bear watching tour today! You can send your inquiry to the head of the tourism office of the hunting club, Mr. Aleš Bambič, by e-mail at: ales.bambic@gmail.com or call him at his mobile phone: +386 41 862 736.
How would you like to see the Europe’s largest predator, the bear, in the wild and get a closer look of its natural habitat? Then come to Loški Potok! Look for bear tracks in the mud and experience up close how this animal adapted to living in this environment in all seasons. Find out why mama bears are so protective of their cubs, what happens to bears during hibernation and what a real bear den looks like. Learn from experienced local hunters how humans and bears can live in peaceful coexistence and how to react correctly and instinctively when you encounter the largest predator in our forests. Experience the thrill of bear watching in the wild, in the company of fully licensed tour guides from the Loški potok Hunting Club, and try your hand at photo hunting. The Loški Potok Hunting Club has been actively engaged in photo hunting since 2015. Since then, they have been constantly improving and updating their offer. In several spots in the forest, they have built attractive observatories equipped with modern facilities to provide a unique visitor experience.
Bear watching and photo hunting tours in Loški Potok are offered from May until the end of September. Proper hiking gear is recommended as the observatories can only be reached by foot. Visitors should refrain from using perfumes and similar scented products on the day of the visit because strong odours can discourage bears from approaching the observatory. We also recommend wearing clothes in earth tones (such as dark brown, grey, dark green) and to avoid brightly coloured clothes. Visitors can stay in the observatory for about 4 hours, from 5 pm to 9 pm, depending on the season and daylight hours, and they are accompanied by a tour guide at all times.
The Loški Potok Hunting Club was the first in Slovenia to receive the “bear-friendly” certificate for bear watching. This certificate is awarded under the European project called Life Dinalp Bear. The “bear-friendly” label was designed to promote products and services using practices that are not harmful for bears and their habitat. This label will allow the local community to achieve greater visibility and add more value to the bear watching services available in Loški Potok. The Loški Potok Hunting Club also participates in other important international nature conservation projects.
Reintroduction Of The Lynx And Participation In The Life Lynx Project
Are you wondering why the lynxes have almost become extinct and why it is important to increase their population by bringing them from other parts of Europe? Would you like to know more about how the lynx moves and hunts its prey? Want to find out how to recognize its tracks and how much luck it takes to spot a lynx in the wild? You can find out all this for yourself from the Loški Potok Hunting Club, which has been successfully participating for two years in the international project called “Rescuing the Dinaric-SE Alpine Lynx Population from Extinction” or “LIFE Lynx” for short. Under this project, two lynxes were released from the adaptation pen in the area of Loški Potok between 2019 and 2020. By 2024, when the project is to be completed, they intend to relocate some more lynxes from Romania and Slovakia to the area of Dinaric Mountains and SE Alps in order to save the remaining population from extinction.
Filming Of The Documentary Karavanken Bear 2019
In June 2019, the movie crew from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF made a documentary on bears and coexisting with them in Slovenia and Austria. The documentary movie also highlights the importance of reinforcing the brown bear population in certain territories and its role in the recovery of certain animal species, such as the wolf and the lynx, as well certain types of mushrooms and even the Carniolan honey bee. Filming also took place in the area of Loški Potok, in cooperation with the hunting club.
Construction Of The Natural Science Hall, The Green Room And The Learning Path – The Local Action Group Project “Heritage Trails From Turjak To Kolpa”
During 2020 and 2021, the Loški Potok Hunting Club renovated and expanded the existing commercial facility that has been unused for several years. The above-mentioned facility has been converted into a proper natural science hall, which is now used for marketing the services of bear watching in the wild and organizing science days for primary schools, including interesting science workshops. As part of the science day, students become acquainted with life-size wild animals and their natural habitat, they watch a movie about the lynx and the bear and try to identify the sounds of various animals. Children are also introduced to wild animals and birds living in the area of Loški Potok, they get acquainted with the typical features of individual animal species, with how they mate, when they birth their young and they learn what forest visitors should look out for during the birthing period. Seeing the so called “green room”, exhibiting life-size stuffed animals and replicas of their dens and shelters made from natural materials by the members of the hunting club, truly is a special experience for any student. The second part of the science day is dedicated to learning about endangered animal species in the area of Loški Potok, including why some animal species are on the verge of extinction and what we can do to prevent them from becoming extinct.
The natural science workshops are designed for preschool children and for nursing home residents as part of their occupational therapy. In addition to learning about forest life, the participants also make and try to recognize animal footprints in clay or plaster and draw forest animals on posters.
By taking part in the project implementation, the Loški Potok Hunting Club wishes to increase the visibility of Loški Potok as a tourist destination, to promote activities and programs aimed at reducing environmental impact, strengthen the awareness of the value of unspoiled nature and of the importance of protecting wildlife in all its forms, and to raise awareness among people about the importance of environmental protection and nature conservation.
