Monitoring of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in the Boikivshchyna National Nature Park (Ukrainian Carpathians)

Based on the analysis of field data collected using camera traps and native observations (tracks, excrements, places of rest, etc.), a preliminary assessment of the brown bear population in the Boykivshchyna NNP has been made. The Boikivshchyna NNP is located within the two geomorphological regions in the Ukrainian part of the Carpathians — Watershed Verkhovyna Carpathian and the Skibovy Carpathians. Accordingly, this protected area neighbours with Polish and Ukrainian nature protected territories — the Bieszczady NP and San Valley Landscape Park in Poland, as well as the Uzhansky NNP and the Skolivski Beskydy NNP in Ukraine. This feature of the Boikivshchyna NNP location may promote the active migration of Brown bears to its territory from other nature protected areas and the operation functioning of several eco-corridors for large mammals. As of early 2025, we estimated the Brown bear number in the Boykivshchyna National Nature Park to be between 4 and 6 individuals.