HUNTING AND FISHING DAYS are supported by the City of Zagreb, the Croatian Hunting Federation and the Croatian Sport Fishing Federation with whom we prepare a number of quality professional gatherings to deal with current topics in the field of hunting and fishing.
The aim of the fair is to promote and develop hunting and fishing tourism, to present new products and the equipment to distributors, hunters and fishermen as well as to highlight the possibility of developing hunting tourism in the continental Croatia in harmony with nature. In this context, apart from the exhibition segment this fair also includes an educational and professional programme, which emphasizes the potential and the direct significance of hunting for nature conservation and preservation - trends and legal provisions intended for the protection of the game, fish and their natural habitats.
Hunting and Fishing Days will be held in the pavilion 8 of the Zagreb Fair.
The fair will bring together 54 exhibitors from 10 countries (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Japan, Sweden, UK, France).
Leading exhibitors: Croatian Hunting Federation, Zagreb Hunting Association, Croatian Sport Fishing Federation, Croatian Shooting Federation, Zoological Garden of Zagreb, KETTNER, SVENDSEN SPORT, BIROS, BOJNA.
Exhibition programme: hunting equipment (weapons, optics, ammunition, clothing, footwear), fishing equipment.
ATTRACTIONS FOR VISITORS
For all visitors of the Hunting and Fishing Days a rich and very interesting accompanying programme will be organized. The Croatian Hunting museum of the Croatian Hunting Federation organizes Diorama, an exhibition of stuffed wild animals. The Croatian Sport Fishing Federation puts on a stuffed fish exhibition.
A demonstration of fishing techniques will be held at the Svendsen Sport stand in a specially built swimming pool.
At the space of the Croatian Shooting Federation and the Zagreb Archery Association all interested visitors will be able to try shooting with an air gun, laser, bow and arrow.
Within the scope of the professional programme we wish to single out the two-day-lecture called Sustainable and ethical hunting in accordance with nature conservation as the basis of legal hunting as well as the expert lecture titled Getting hunters familiar with the African swine fever and the measures to prevent its spreading to the Republic of Croatia.
The Dinaric lynx population we share with Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the risk of extinction due to breeding among close relatives. An international team of scientists within the LIFE Lynx project has begun exploring and releasing lynxes from the Carpathians to our territory in order to save the population of this charismatic species. The lecture "Lynx researchers' torments - adventures and accidents" will speak about the implementation of the project in the field, the encountered challenges and the ways of overcoming them.
On the last day of the fair there Massimo Scandur, PhD from the University of Sassari, Italy will hold a lecture on MammalNet European mammal research with the help of citizens.
The MammalNet international consortium is made up of leading scientific institutions, funded by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and based on citizen participation in data collection, known as "citizen science". This international consortium encourages all interested citizens to submit mammal sighting and location data because citizen participation is crucial to advancing science in those areas where traditional methodologies are not sufficient, such as wildlife management and conservation.
EDUCATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN
The Zoological Garden of Zagreb is the only zoo in the world where two endemic species of the Dinaric karst can be seen - the olm, blind cave salamander and the Balkan snow vole. Both species are included in the CARE programme to be presented by the Zoological Garden at the Hunting and Fishing Days.
It is a programme of the Zoological Garden that includes nature conservation, research and education projects, which are among major functions of modern zoos.
The Zoological Garden is involved in animal protection projects on the global scale, but it is particularly important at the local level. In collaboration with other institutions, it investigates endangered animal species and finds what will help protect them in the long term. Without its work, Croatia's wildlife would not be the same today. It is part of the Zoological Garden's business that is not visible to visitors. The wildlife rescue center does its job 365 days a year, owing to which many animals have successfully recovered. The most famous of them are the bear Matija, the lynx Martin and the beaver Štefek. Visitors of the Hunting and Fishing Days will find about them through an exhibition of photographs and accompanying educational contents. To encourage citizens to treat the animal world with more respect and less fear, the Zoological Garden will set up terrariums with snakes living in and around Zagreb. The snakes will include the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), the European Adder (Vipera berus), the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), the Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) and the grass snake (Natrix natrix). Educators will teach visitors what to do when they encounter snakes in the city or in nature.