VIABILITY OF THE POPULATIONS OF PERDIX PERDIX L. AT MT. FRUŠKA GORA AND SREMSKA RAČA, REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

UDK: 639.124(497.11) Perdix perdix L. (also known as the Grey partridge, English partridge, and Hungarian partridge) populations have been declining for years in natural habitats and areas in which this species of wildlife has been introduced. Hunting grounds at the base of Mt. Fruška Gora and Sremska Rača in the Republic of Serbia provide excellent conditions for its breeding. In addition to the data from hunting records about population quantity of the P. perdix, a direct monitoring allows a relevant inside to its' quantity in hunting associations’ hunting grounds. The decline of population quantity is mostly the result of the use of chemicals for protection of agricultural crops (10%), destruction of nests and bird eggs (12.5%), and the failure to implement failure wildlife-protection measures, by forbidding the hunt of P. perdix  (5%) , and the use of poisons on agricultural crops, such as the forbidden poison Furadan (5%). Although no significant results have been obtained on the impact of predators and abandoned animals on the reduction of P. perdix population, there is a justified concern by hunting associations’ in terms of finding ecologically and biologically viable solutions for impact on predators on feathered game, and especially abandoned dogs. The results of the study were obtained by the method of directly determining the number of P. perdix in the crop fields, in the hunting grounds of L.D. "Fazan Mala Remeta", L.D. "Fazan" Jazak, L.D. "Stejanovci" Stejanovci, L.D. "Zec" Vrdnik and L.D. "Srndać" Sremska Rača. The obtained results directly the need to introduce the principle of integral protection of P. perdix, which implies control over the implementation of measures for the protection of agricultural crops and the implementation of P. perdix protection measures during the organization of hunting on other game species in hunting grounds.