Croatia
Bioterra

We have teamed up with the NGO ‘Bioterra’ based in Zagreb, Croatia to monitor and research Croatian wildlife.

Bioterra is run by researchers, and seeks to monitor, record and protect the fantastic wildlife that can be found in Croatia. A major part of their work is using camera traps in remote wilderness to monitor animals such as wolves, lynx and bears.

Our partnership involves working specifically in Northern Velebit National Park and Biokovo Nature Park; beautiful rugged mountains with an abundance of wildlife, some of which is endemic to these regions.

There is also work to monitor the impact of huge green bridges spanning Croatia’s burgeoning motorway system – allowing mammals large and small to traverse safely and reducing human and wildlife casualties.

Who's Involved
Bioterra
Northern Velebit National Park
This is funded with profits from our shop
Partnership Project
More About Bioterra
Bioterra is an association for researching, photographing and conserving Croatia's Natural Heritage.

We directly provide the much-needed equipment for the monitoring programmes, as well as visits to assist the researchers and rangers involved in running the equipment.

We also help with data storage and processing - including working with citizen science projects such as InstantWild (find out more further down).

You can follow more of Bioterra's work and updates.
Visit Bioterra
What we're doing
  • Working with Bioterra and in association with Northern Velebit National Park and Nature Park Biokovo we’re using camera traps to study the large mammals that call these habitats home with wolves and lynx the primary focus of the research.
  • As just 40-60 individual lynx and less than 200 wolves in approximately 50 packs remain in all of Croatia, understanding more of their population, distribution and habitat trends is of vital importance.
  • Despite being a protected keystone species, wolves here are persecuted by hunters and some local landowners and the lynx are facing decline.
  • The cameras are monitoring two key areas in Croatia; Northern Velebit National Park and Nature Park Biokovo.
  • Since using these cameras, Bioterra and the Northern Velebit National Park have been able to determine that they have at least 2 distinct packs using the park – something that was almost impossible to find out before.
Project News
12/20
09/19
10/18
05/18
02/18
11/17
06/17
04/17
12/16
10/16
18/12/2020
On the trail of wolves and lynx...
Monitoring wolves, lynx, bears and more in Croatia...
04/09/2019
Wild wolf recreates staff photo
NatureSpy staff were in the wilds of Croatia’s Velebit Mountains this April with Rangers from the Northern Velebit National Park as well as with our partners at Bioterra. Here, they were checking on current camera traps and installing new monitoring equipment in the various habitats that make up the park, from dense forests and grasslands to rocky outcrops.
22/10/2018
A lingering, licking lynx in the daylight…
Some absolutely stunning footage back this week from one of the camera traps out in Croatia – a rare lynx, in the daylight, scratching and licking a frozen pool.
16/05/2018
Croatian cameras now on ZSL Instant Wild!
We're delighted to announce that the wireless camera traps we run with Bioterra in Croatia are now available on the fantastic Instant Wild website and apps.
19/02/2018
Wolf pack and lynx surprise from Croatia...
Following on from our visit to partners Bioterra in Croatia in November 2017, we've started to have some of the images back from the camera traps we took out there.
27/11/2017
A visit to Croatia and more camera traps
In mid-November, some of the NatureSpy team headed out to Croatia to visit our partners Bioterra, learn more about their work and deliver 13 more camera traps.
15/06/2017
Huge brown bear meets camera trap…
Huge brown bear meets camera trap
21/04/2017
Eagles and martens in Croatia
More images have come in from the camera traps in Croatia, through our link up with Bioterra.
06/12/2016
Wolves and boar - first images from Croatia
A short while back, we announced that we were teaming up with and supporting wildlife monitoring in Croatia. 
12/10/2016
New link-up to monitor European wildlife
NatureSpy have teamed up with an organisation in Europe to monitor and research Croatian wildlife.
Camera Used
This project uses a mix of cameras, with Browning Trail Cameras used the most for their long battery life and great image quality.
Take a Closer Look
Get Involved
Help us ID the data on our Croatian trail cams with ZSL Instant Wild. To get involved and start tagging, head to ZSL’s Instant Wild website or download the app on iOS and Android.
Get Started
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