Reactions of alpine and gray marmot on use of alpine environment

Jerguš TESÁK*, Juraj ŠVAJDA & Peter URBAN

Katedra biológie a ekológie, Fakulta prírodných vied, Univerzita Mateja Bela, Tajovského 40, SK-974 01 Banská Bystrica; e-mail: *jergus.tesak@umb.sk, juraj.svajda@umb.sk, peter.urban@umb.sk

* korešpondujúci autor

Abstract

Alpine and grey marmots (Marmota marmota and Marmota baibacana) are closely linked to alpine environment. It is also used by humans for various purposes (including recreation and livestock farming). These activities have an impact on the above mentioned species. The study focused on observing the impact of human activity on marmots in selected localities of three protected areas: the Tatra National Park, the Low Tatras National Park (Slovakia) and the Karakol National Park (Kyrgyzstan). Based on 181 separate activity records in 2016, it has been shown, that directed hiking does not seem to be a significant negative factor. More negative was the movement of tourists outside of the tourist routes and we consider the most serious factor the movement of tourists with dogs without leashes.

Key words: marmot, tourism, national park, behavior