The isolated villages in the heart of the Danube Delta live under the increasingly aggressive threat of jackals. Wild animal attacks have increased alarmingly, and locals say they no longer have the courage to step out of their homes after dark. In the absence of effective solutions, people have barricaded their households, while the authorities announce the organization of hunters to reduce the jackal population.
The isolated villages in the heart of the Danube Delta live under the threat of jackals. PHOTO: Archive
Night after night, entire packs circle the villages, and hunger pushes them more and more often beyond the people's fences. As darkness falls, the streets remain deserted, and fear has become part of everyday life.
“They started to enter the village as well. I woke up with him in the yard as well. Any hungry animal, if it has nothing to eat, attacks the man too”, says a local.
The damage is considerable, especially for livestock farmers. People tell that they lost their sheep, goats and birds from their households, mercilessly attacked by predators.
“They killed my sheep, goat, chickens, geese. Especially here, at the edge of the forest, there are a lot of them”, says another villager.
In the absence of quick help from the authorities, the locals tried to defend themselves as best they could. They strengthened fences, concreted enclosures or installed electric fences to protect their animals.
“I put this in especially for jackals. They dig and go into the yard. If they find a bigger space for their heads to go in, they go in. The only option is concrete.” explains a local.
The problem not only affects households, but also the fauna in the area. According to the people of the Delta, the jackals have severely imbalanced the ecosystem, drastically reducing wild animal populations.
“The jackal has destroyed everything in the area. The pheasant is not what it used to be, the deer not so much, the rabbit not so much.” says Nicolae Uncu, a local from Sfântu Gheorghe.
In this context, the authorities announce that, starting next week, hunts will be organized to capture around 400 jackals, especially near towns and farms.
“We are trying to do this extraction 200 meters from each locality, in the vicinity of animal farms in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve”, said the governor of ARBDD, Bogdan Bulete.
However, the measure is not a new one. Last year, around 350 jackals were captured, with no long-term solution to the problem. According to studies carried out by the Danube Delta National Research and Development Institute, almost 2,500 specimens live in the area.
For the locals, every night remains a test of survival, and the fear that the next attack could target not only animals, but also people, is increasingly present.
