The team of the Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology pursues several research paths. Our colleagues specialize in game management (e.g. assoc. prof. Hanzal), spatial activity of game and population dynamics of game (prof. Červený, prof. Koubek, Ing. Ježek and assoc. prof. Kušta), magnetic orientation in game and other animals (prof. Burda, assoc. prof. Hart, Ing. Nováková) and vertebrate zoology (assoc. prof. Farkač).
Teaching
The Department offers a wide range of highly specialized biology and game-management subjects. The courses are based on fundamental game-management subjects (Game Keeping and the Environment, Game Management, Dog Breeding, Huntsmanship, Falconry, Shooting and Ballistics, Hunting Planning and Typology, Game-Enclosure and Pheasantry Management) complemented by Ethology, Game Anatomy, Animal Biology, Wildlife Veterinary Care or Monitoring of Wildlife Animals etc. The Department offers optional subjects for students of other CZU faculties (e.g. Game Management). Continuously, new subjects are being accredited to help graduates achieve their full potential in modern research and employment practice. The Department boasts a magnificent collection of taxidermy and skeletal exhibits.
Research
Research covers several main areas of interest. We investigate spatial activity of game and carry out telemetric monitoring of sika deer, red deer, wild boar, European lynx and red fox, using GPS collars for data collecting. The selected animals are tracked and studied to see their reactions to anthropogenic stimuli, and to evaluate management measures in game keeping. Our researchers also conduct a very promising study of magnetic orientation in game and other animals. We have published several studies confirming strong influence of magnetism on red deer, roe deer, fox, duck and carp. Our staff also monitor and study invasive animal species, especially sika deer, raccoon dog, Northern raccoon and American mink.
History
Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences CZU Prague was established in 2013. Game management and wildlife biology education has had a long tradition in Prague. In 1919, the first undergraduate forestry course comprising game management education was launched in Bohemia with Assoc. professor Jan Evangelista Chadt-Ševětínský as the first expert to teach game management in Prague in the 1920s. The Faculty of Forestry in Prague was established after WWII, in 1951, at the Czech Technical University. In 1959 the Faculty became part of the College of Agriculture (founded in 1952). In 1964, the Faculty of Forestry (FF) was transformed into the Forestry Research Institute and relocated to Kostelec nad Černými lesy near Prague, its teaching activities subdued. Game management and animal biology research was conducted especially by Dr. Eliška Nováková’s team. Forestry subjects started to be taught again in 1990 at the re-established Faculty of Forestry, provisionally seated in a temporary building on the College of Agriculture campus in Prague-Suchdol. Game management was taught at the Department of Forest Protection headed by prof. Kalina. In 1995, the College of Agriculture was renamed as the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and in the 1990s, the department also changed its name to Department of Forest Protection and Game Management to characterize its subject field more precisely. In 2003, our Faculty was renamed as the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, and in 2007 the school divided into Faculty of Forest and Wood Sciences (FFWS) and Faculty of Environmental Sciences (FES). Just before the split, the Department of Forest Protection and Game Management, headed by prof. Turčáni since 2006, underwent important changes. We opened a new Game Management section (with Assoc. prof. Jaroslav Červený in charge) followed by establishing a brand new Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology in 2013. Prof. Jaroslav Červený (the only professor of Game Management in the Czech Republic) became the head of the Department but, shortly, designated Ing. Vlastimil Hart PhD his successor in April 2013. The Department pursues both teaching and research activities and offers associate-professor and professor promotion procedures. In December 2015, Ing. Vlastimil Hart and Ing. Tomáš Kušta successfully defended their habilitation theses and were promoted to associate professors at the ceremonial CZU academic council session in May 2016.
