Abundance trends in Sus scrofa and Cervus elaphus at selected estates of southern Bohemia, Czech Republic, in the early modern era (Artiodactyla: Suidae, Cervidae)

The development of abundance of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) at selected estates in southern Bohemia is based on available hunting statistics. Old hunting statistics provide the possibility of insight into the specific development of the wild boar and red deer populations individually in the particular estates of Třeboň, Český Krumlov, Vimperk, and Nové Hrady. Data series document the harvested numbers and their development in the 17–19th centuries and their changes under the pressure of the state administration, which since the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (1740–1780) has focused on improving the living conditions of small farmers, among other things, by consistently insisting on compensation for damages caused by the game and also by the forced confinement of the wild boar in enclosures. As a result of pressure from the state administration, the number of red deer living in the wild was substantially reduced and the presence of the wild boar in the wild was completely prohibited by law. In the above mentioned estates, the red deer survived in the wild only as a result of the will of the estate owners to pay for the damage caused, the wild boar was completely absent in the wild until the middle of the 20th century.