The Komondor, one of the most well-known out of the nine Hungarian dog species recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) could face hardships and the breed might even disappear altogether.
Due to the modernisation of the agrarian sector and the changes in Hungarians’ lifestyles, as well as the disappearance of the homestead culture, the Komondor, which is mainly used for herding and guarding the livestock has lost its purpose, Anita Anda-Marócsek, a Komondor breeder informed Infostart.
The Komondor is one of the oldest Hungarian dog breeds with Asiatic origins. The breed presumably arrived in the Carpathian basin alongside the migrating Old Magyars around the time of the Hungarian conquest.
It is typically a large, white coloured breed and its most unique feature is its coat; its robust body is covered by matted, corded, long fur. In terms of their temperament, they are mainly calm and have natural guarding instincts, fearlessly defending the herd or their owner’s house.
In 2004, along with several other protected native animal species, the Hungarian Parliament declared the Komondor a national treasure. In 2017, the Collection of Hungaricums was expanded with the Hungarian shepherd, a number of hunting dog breeds as well as the Komondor.
If you would like to know more about other Hungarian dog breeds, check out THISarticle.
Photo: Facebook.com/komondorfajtamentok/
Anita Anda-Marócsek, the owner of the Andaházi Tanyák Őre Komondor Kennel, and breeder of this ancient Hungarian breed says the Komondor is one of the most adaptive dog breed. While previously its main role was to guard the homestead and its animals, now they are perfectly adapted to guarding the homes of their owners.
Interestingly, the Komondor respects every family member and looks up to each of them, they are also highly compatible with children, the breeder said.
She also added that while according to popular belief their coat is high maintenance, it is simply not true. However, this breed is not recommended to be kept in an apartment.
As they are not so energetic as the Border Collie, for example, they can be perfectly happy in gardens of about 7-800 m2, writes Agrárszektor.
Not to mention that the Komondor is a very healthy breed, rarely requiring check-ups at the veterinarian apart from the yearly mandatory vaccines for rabies prevention.
Anita Anda-Marócsek, a breeder of the iconic Komondor highlights that the breed is in danger, and it will only survive the next 20 years if more people become familiar with the breed and demand will grow.
Otherwise, there is a possibility that in the future, people will only see the Komondor in animated Hungarian folktales.
The re-emergence of grey wolves in Hungary causes a lot of disputes between hunters and environmentalists. Since the predators hunt for wild game as their source of food, some hunters and livestock farmers regard them as pests because the wolves cause damages by killing valuable animals.
The root of the problem
Based on the information of the Bükk National Park, currently, there are wolf packs living in the Bükk Mountains, in Mátra and in the Tarnavidék protected area, Indexreports.
According to the news outlet, the reason wolves have become more and more widespread and present in growing numbers in Hungary is forestation.
Forestation provides a better habitat for game animals that are prey to the grey wolves. Since the population of these animals grew, some wolves migrated back to the country.
However, while the wolves are highly protected animals, they can cause some serious problems indirectly. Game animals fleeing from the packs of wolves can enter urban areas. Deer and elk, for example, can be dangerous and even cause damage to the residents.
Additionally, last summer, 22 sheep have been killed by predators in Mátranovák which further worsened the reputation of wolves.
Nimród, a hunters’ magazine has recently shared that a wolf mauled and torn apart a wild male red deer near Mátranovák-Mátracserpuszta on 14 February.
Photo: Bakó Tamás / NIMRÓD Vadászújság (Hunters’ magazine)
Photo: Bakó Tamás / NIMRÓD Vadászújság (Hunters’ magazine)
Photo: Bakó Tamás / NIMRÓD Vadászújság (Hunters’ magazine)
The red deer entered an urban area which was reported by a local to the hunter’s association. However, by the time the hunters arrived, they could only find bloodstains. Thanks to a bloodhound, the hunters found the deer 1.5 kilometres away.
Unfortunately, the wolves started eating the male deer, thus it had to be put out of its misery.
Retaliation
Due to the aforementioned damages and complications the protected grey wolves can cause, it has been an open secret in the hunting society, that some people purposefully hunt grey wolves to stop them from killing the game they could sell to other hunters, RTLreported.
According to their sources, some people use carbofuran, a banned pesticide that has similar toxicity to the notorious V-series nerve agents, posing a threat also to human life. Others use bait that is infected by canine diseases.
There have been several cases when hunters dumped hundreds of kilograms of animal carcasses in areas, sometimes even protected natural reserves or near the Hungarian National Blue Trail a popular hiking route, to lure the wolves there.
An entire boneyard from dead animals found on 20 December 2020
Source: rtl.hu
One of the pile of carcasses found on 29 January 2021
Source: rtl.hu
It has to be said that while the hunters who want to get rid of wolves do this practice to be able to shoot the animals, this action poses great danger directly to hikers as well as other animals, and indirectly to people living nearby as the harmful fluids of the rotting carcasses can enter local waters.
According to Berek, experts say that they only have indirect evidence of the illegal killing of wolves.
Since there are only about 40-50 wolves in the total area of the Bükk National Park, it is evident when an adult animal disappears and its carcass is not found.
There are no perpetrators
According to RTL, since 2013, no one has been found accountable by the authorities for killing the highly protected grey wolves, but among hunters, it is said that if someone is going hunting with a rifle and a shovel, it is evident that he is going to kill a wolf.
The news outlet asked the Hungarian police about the matter, but they responded that the case of a killed wolf from 2018 has been still under investigation and they cannot give details about unclosed cases.
Budapest Zoo has been ranked 15th on the Sheridan list of top zoos in Europe and occupies the top spot in Hungary.
The unofficial Sheridan list ranks zoos based on visitor experience, the parks’ level of services, and the professional work carried out in the zoos.
Budapest Zoo scored 207 points, putting it in 15th place on the list of Europe’s top 126 zoos.
As such, it beat the zoos in Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam’s Artis Zoo, and several other major European menageries.
The ranking is compiled by British zoo expert Anthony Sheridan, who turned to reviewing Europe’s top zoos in 2007, after a successful business career in the electronics industry.
The Budapest Zoo ranked 17th out of 110 zoos on the last Sheridan list released in 2018. The institution has improved its ranking by two places in recent years, while the total number of zoos included in the evaluation has also increased.
Budapest Zoo
Budapest Zoo enables visitors to discover the wildlife of seven continents in the Hungarian capital. The wide range of animal curiosities – more than 8,000 unique animals – live in the fascinating historic zoo on a territory of 11 hectares.
Photo: www.facebook.com/allatkert/Photo: Budapest ZooPhoto: www.facebook.com/allatkert/
Among others, you can get an insight into the Australian or Madagascar wildlife, discover the America Tropicana and the Savannah Zone or get immersed in the World of Waters. The bravest ones should not miss the house of giant reptiles or the bat tent either, after which they can finish their tour in the relaxing atmosphere of the Butterfly and Botanical Gardens of Budapest Zoo.
Photo: facebook.com/allatkert
In the wintertime, the zoo is open from Monday to Sunday from 6 am to 4 pm. Tickets – adult tickets cost HUF 3,300 (€ 10), children’s tickets cost HUF 2,200 (€ 6) – can be bought online or on site.
Programme guide
This weekend, Budapest Zoo awaits its visitors with a special bear carnival.
Photo: zoobudapest.com
At the event, you can see brown bears and polar bears being fed, as well as sea lions being trained. Find more details about the programme HERE.
The entrance for children under 14 years of age in a costume or with a teddy bear is HUF 200 per person. Tickets can be purchased from 29th January at the ticket offices or online.
Bird flu has been detected at a duck farm in Csengerújfalu, near the Hungarian-Romanian border in north-eastern Hungary, where the culling of 37,000 poultry is under way, the food safety authority (Nébih) said on Wednesday.
Nébih was notified after the farm saw an increased death rate among the birds, and feed and water consumption dropped. The authority then drew a 3km “protection zone” and a 10km “supervision zone” around the farm. The Romanian animal health authority has been briefed about the case, it said.
In Hungary’s Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, some
40 localities are under various protective measures due to bird flu,
Nébih warned, calling on the farmers to adhere to the relevant regulations.
Hunting may be a controversial topic nowadays, but it has a long tradition in Hungary. The hunting etiquette consists of a series of codes and principles that people who pursue this sport ought to respect.
Sonlinewas the first to report about the trophies of a three-day hunting event at a popular hunting ground called Zselic in the south-western Somogy county.
According to the site, Zselic is an increasingly popular hunting location among Hungarian and foreign huntsmen. It is considered to be rich in wild game and hunting tourism greatly benefits the National Hungarian Hunting Chamber.
Sokszínűvidékwrote that due to the pandemic and the related restrictions, many German and Austrian hobby hunters could not enter Hungary. Foreign hunters are now happy that they can visit the hunting grounds without restrictions.
The large wild game stock of Somogy county attracts many hunters from abroad.
János Meiszterics, the president of the Tapsony és Vidéke Petőfi Vadásztársaság (Tapsony and Area Hunting Association) said that the region’s high quality wild game stock is abundant. He also added that he would prefer if the cold winter weather would remain, so that wild animals would stay close to the areas where the feeders are.
Meszterics also highlighted that the hunting associations in Somogy county fulfill half of their yearly quotas in the winter months.
“It is important to regulate the population size by hunting in order to mitigate substantial damage by game, not to mention that hunting tourism is a major source of income for the association.”
As the Facebook post says, the three-day hunting event took a great deal of organisation beforehand and everyone who was involved did an excellent job.
The hunters ended the event with a proper celebration as per the etiquette of Hungarian hunters. They lined up the wild game and decorated the surrounding area with branches as well as set bonfires at the four corners of the spread.
Berekreports that during the three-day event, altogether 115 wild games had been killed including mostly wild boars, a few red and European fallow deer “tarvad”, which refers to females or young males, as well as two foxes and a golden jackal.
The president of Tapsony és Vidéke Petőfi Vadásztársaság (Tapsony and Area Hunting Association) noted that they shot 650 boars out of the 750 yearly quotas in this hunting season.
Though they localize Hungary’s beautiful capital in Romania, protectmypaws.com found that Budapest is the world’s seventh dog-friendliest city with the seventh highest dog:human ratio (22.8:100). They write that with dogs allowed on public transport and in many cafes and restaurants around Budapest, it’s a great place for its many dogs to live. They can also stretch their legs at the beautiful Olympia Park on the banks of the River Danube, which offers them agility equipment to help them stay in shape.
According to the protectmypaws.com, nothing brings sunshine to your day like a dog. If you don’t have your own dog, a furry encounter in the street brings a smile to your troubled heart. (More specifically, it gives you a shot of beta-endorphin, oxytocin, and dopamine.) If you do have a dog, you can multiply your shared joy at a well-attended park, dog-friendly gym, or just sitting at your front window together yelling at all the dogs that pass. But these sightings are more common in some cities than others. Having researched the video games where you can pet the dog, Protect My Paws has now identified the cities where you’re most likely to find a dog to pet: the places with the most dogs per km2 and per 100 people.
Key findings
Paris, France, has 2,857 dogs per km2, the highest dog density in the world.
Houston in the US is home to 52.1 dogs per 100 humans, the highest ratio in the world.
Chicago is the major US city with the highest density of dogs (1,037 per km2).
Budapest, Hungary, is the European city with the highest dog:human ratio (22.8:100).
Paris, France, is the City with the Most Dogs Per KM2
It’s the ultimate accessory: one that will love you back just as much as you love it. The Parisian dog is a ubiquitous sight, with 2,857 chiens wandering gracefully around every square km. But finding a dog in ‘play mode’ was difficult until recently, as dogs were banned from 84% of the city’s parks.
Thankfully, this legal leash was loosened just before the pandemic, so the only thing stopping dogs from enjoying a little more space to social distance is that dogs don’t social distance.
Houston, Texas, Has the Highest Dog: Person Ratio in the World
If you’ve ever shared a family dog, you’ve probably been told your quarter is ‘at the back end.’ Ha ha. But on a citywide scale, very few people get even as much as a quarter of a dog. And Houston in the US is the only city where you get over half a dog (0.521 to be precise) each. Still, 12 hours a day with your allotted dog would be reasonable, if only Mayor Sylvester would roll out Borrow My Doggy as a matter of council policy.
protectmypaws.com
All of the cities in our top 10 ‘per person’ table have more than 21 dogs per 100 people. But, overall, 55.6% of the cities in our study have a ratio of fewer than 10 dogs per 100 humans. This is concerning for dog-lovers since the US cat population is rising faster than its canine equivalent – and it’s much harder to get that ‘ray of sunshine’ feeling from a cat.
Let’s give a special mention to Bern, Switzerland, which has the second-highest dog:person ratio in the world and the third-highest density. And why wouldn’t you be infatuated with dogs in the region that gave us the Bernese Mountain Dog and a country that voted the Saint Bernard to be its national animal?
Again and again, some people ask the seemingly abstract question: do dogs understand what we tell them, or do they focus on different tones? The question is not that abstract anymore, as the Ethology Department of Eötvös Loránd University has found the answer.
In their latest brain imaging study, researchers at the university found that dogs’ brains sense when they hear human speech and show different patterns when hearing a known and an unknown language. According to the research results, this is the first time in the world that a non-human brain has been shown to be able to distinguish between two languages.
To find out whether dogs can differentiate between languages, 18 dogs were involved in the research. All the dogs were trained to lie still in the MRI, while the examinations were going on. The dogs heard only one language from their owners. Some dogs heard Hungarian.
The researchers played excerpts from The Little Prince in Hungarian and in Spanish to compare the dogs’ brain responses to the language they knew and the language that they were not familiar with.
“Unnatural stimuli were produced by cutting the pieces of text into very short slices and mixing them. We used these stimuli to see if dogs recognise the difference between speech and non-speech at all,” the university’s website describes the research method.
Another important result of the research was that the brains of the dogs were able to distinguish between Hungarian and Spanish. One of the findings was that the pattern of dogs’ brain responses to speech and non-speech differed. There is no evidence, however, that dog brains would favour speech over non-speech. What this result means is that dogs can differentiate between speech and non-speech. There is a piece of very important information as well. As they write in the referred article, “the mechanism for perceiving speech-likeness may be different than for humans: while the human brain pays special attention to speech, the brain of dogs presumably simply senses the naturalness of the sound stimulus.”
So, based on the research, dogs can distinguish between human languages. This relates to a story featured in the media in 2021 where a dog was discovered to only know Spanish.
Max, the 4-year-old rescue Chihuahua, was clearly well-behaved, and the owner saw that he might have had some training before. However, the dog did not listen to the commands. Later, it turned out that the dog only knows Spanish. The dog stared at the owner when she said “come” but walked up to her when she said “acquí”. Max also dismissed “sit” but sat down at the Spanish word “siéntate”. You can see the cute dog on TikTok.
The wild cat has been making headlines in Hungary for a while now. Most recently it got closer to people, but the animal is still out there.
In December, a black cat was seen on footage. Later it was identified as a black panther. Experts informed the public that the panther was most likely kept illegally, then it either escaped or was released by the owner. – we reported.
The animal must be used to humans, and it is unlikely to attack people. Out of precaution; however, it is strongly advised to turn the other way and walk away from the animal, in case you spot the panther nearby.
At first, the animal was seen in Kiskunhalas, then Kecskemét and Ballószög. The wild cat was accused of a brutal massacre in Kiskunfélegyháza. A local farmer said that the panther was responsible for the death of eight lambs.
Now Index writes that the wild cat was spotted on top of a garage in downtown Szolnok. Locals at Kengyel also reported that the animal was also seen there, at the end of a street. Authorities immediately started looking for the black panther, but the animal was nowhere to be found. Based on the traces; however, cats were definitely roaming the streets.
Roland Kardos, the president of the Association of Hungarian Private Zoos, also went out to look for traces. He shared some important information in regards to the wild cat.
“I did not find traces or signs of a leopard or its black colored breed (which would have been clearly visible in this case, as the area is covered with fresh snow).” – he writes in a Facebook post, then adds that he found a cat, which was peacefully hunting for mice.
He adds that the black panther is not roaming the streets of Szolnok.
It could be the snow, the distance, the technique and other factors that lead to deception. He ends the post by writing that he does not rule out the possibility of having seen the panther in other parts of the country, but people in professional circles are skeptical. There has been no specific information about the wild animal, and without specifics, the presence of the panther cannot be justified.
So the black panther seems to appear from time to time, according to locals. Although, there has been no trace of it as of now.
Just a few days ago, the American Kennel Club has finally officially recognised one of the nine most popular Hungarian dog breeds. The Mudi can now take part in official competitions recognised and organised by the American Kennel Club.
The American Kennel Club, or AKC for short has been founded in 1884 and is a not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to the promotion of the sport of purebred dogs and breeding for type and function.
Although probably not as well recognised around the world as the iconic Hungarian Vizsla (Hungarian Short-haired or Wirehaired Pointer) or the loveable goofy-looking, resembling a large mop more than a dog, the Komondor, the Mudi is one of the 9 most recognised Hungarian dog breeds.
At first glance it resembles like the mixture of a Kuvasz and a Puli, it is a very loveable dog.
According to Azénkutyám, the Mudi is a “jack of all trades; it is a great shepherding dog, but it performs greatly on hunts and in dog sports. It is very intelligent and can learn quickly”.
American Kennel Club approximates that there are only 450 Mudis kept in the US and 3,000-4,000 worldwide. So, it is one of the rarer breeds.
The Mudi Club of America writes that the dog’s temperament is “alert, energetic, intelligent, biddable, adaptable and always enthusiastic about any job that needs to be done. The Mudi is sensibly suspicious and therefore an excellent watchdog”.
However, AKC’s corresponding secretary, Bergesen warns, that it is not a dog for first-time owners; “While some may call the breed stubborn, I see it as getting bored if constantly drilled. They are thinkers, love to learn, learn quickly, and do not need lots of repetitions to acquire most skills.”
Dogs are able to distinguish between different languages, according to a fresh brain imaging study conducted by ethologists at Budapest’s Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE).
The study by ELTE’s Department of Ethology, published in scientific journal NeuroImage, is the first of its kind to demonstrate than a nonhuman brain can differentiate between two different languages. “We know that people, even pre-verbal human infants, notice the difference [between different languages],” a statement on the department’s website quoted Laura V. Cuaya, first author of the study, as saying.
The brain imaging study was carried out on Cuaya’s own dog, Kun-kun, and 17 others.
The dogs had to be trained to lie motionless in a brain scanner where they were played speech excerpts of The Little Prince in Spanish and Hungarian. All of the dogs had only heard one of the two languages from their owners, allowing the authors of the study to compare the dogs’ reactions to a highly familiar language and a completely unfamiliar one.
The study found that the dogs were able to distinguish between Spanish and Hungarian. These language-specific activity patterns were found in the secondary auditory cortex. The older the dog was, the better their brain distinguished between the familiar and the unfamiliar language.
“Each language is characterised by a variety of auditory regularities,”
Raul Hernandez-Perez, co-author of the study, said. “Our findings suggest that during their lives with humans, dogs pick up on the auditory regularities of the language they are exposed to.”
The dogs were also played scrambled versions of the excerpts, which sounded completely unnatural, to test whether they could detect the difference between speech and non-speech.
When comparing the brain responses to speech and non-speech, the study found distinct activity patterns in the dogs’ primary auditory cortex.
This activity was independent of whether the stimuli originated from the familiar or the unfamiliar language. Yet, when it came to complex sounds processed in their secondary auditory cortex, a familiar language and an unfamiliar language produced different activity patterns.
The study was supported by ELTE, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Eötvös Research Network, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the European Research Council and the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology.
The black panther was spotted first at a construction site in Kiskunhalas, South Hungary. However, nobody could capture it since then. Thus, it seems that the wild animal is roaming the streets and villages of the region. Later last month, people saw the animal in Kecskemét and Ballószög. Now locals say that the beast committed a massacre in Kiskunfélegyháza.
Black panther seen in multiple places in Hungary
According to Blikk, the black panther seen before in multiple Hungarian towns and villages is responsible for a brutal massacre in Kiskunfélegyháza. A local farmer told the Hungarian tabloid that a predator murdered eight of his lambs during the night. He shared some photos of his animals in an open Facebook group. Locals say that the black panther is responsible for what happened – Blikk highlighted. They also said that hunger drew the beast out from its hiding place. Authorities, including police, have been searching for the wild beast for weeks. However, they found nothing.
The farmer wrote that everybody should protect their animals since an unknown animal tore eight of his lambs into pieces. He added in his post that the authorities were searching for the predator.
The black panther roaming the Hungarian Great Plains on a video footage. YT/PrtScr
Not utterly bloodthirsty but not afraid of people
We reported before that the panther was first spotted on 11th December. On a video footage made by a local, a black animal could be seen near a construction site in Kiskunhalas. The police, along with experts, later informed the public that the footage was real, and the wild cat is a black panther.
They also added that the wild animal was most probably illegally kept by its owner. Black panthers are native to Africa and South Asia, meaning that the Hungarian climate puts the animal in danger.
Zoltán Hanga, the spokesperson for the Budapest Zoo, told then that the animal was probably raised by humans, and it has difficulty finding food and water since it never had to hunt. The spokesperson also said that this wild cat, although dangerous,
does not see people as prey. Cats, dogs, and other animals, however, could easily become its prey. The animal can hide easily but does not attack people unless it senses danger.
If someone encounters the black panther, it is crucial not to approach the wild cat and to just walk the other way. An important thing to keep in mind is that this animal is used to people, so the instinct to avoid them is not as strong as it is in the case of panthers living in the wild.
Perhaps the last major event of the year, the FCI European Dog Show opened on Tuesday 28 December, at Hungexpo. Helló Magyar thought that, as dog lovers, they must check out the first day.
The event, originally scheduled for May, had to be postponed to the end of the year due to the pandemic. Hence, the FCI Dog Show became the closing event of the “One with Nature” – World Hunt and Nature Show. The show was also visited by Helló Magyar.
The biggest event involving dogs in Hungary and Europe is held at Hungexpo in Budapest this year. Between 28 and 31 December, each day a colourful range of programmes will entertain dog lovers.
The exhibition is jointly organised by the World Canine Organisation (Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in French) and the Hungarian National Association of Dog Breeders (MEOE Association).
Tickets are averagely priced. Adult tickets are available for HUF 3,500, while senior citizens and students can visit the dog fair for HUF 1,800.
The event can be divided into two parts. There is a large area (Pavilion A, D, E) where the dog show itself takes place with judges and “competitors”. Concurrently, there are programmes and performances, by and with dogs every day in Pavilion G.
Those professionally involved with dogs in Hungary were very much looking forward to the event. Understandably, as the last time our country hosted the FCI was in 2008. According to the organisers, around 16,000 dogs from 57 countries will take part in the four-day event. We can see it already in the car park that visitors have come from all around the world. There are several caravans and minibuses, meaning people traveled thousands of kilometres just to compete with their pets at the FCI.
The climax of the event will be on 31 December. The breed group winners (selected from the breed winners), will compete for the title of Europe’s most beautiful dog. On the afternoon of the 31st, the winner of the most valuable trophy will be chosen from 16,000 dogs. If you are a fan of the domestic breed, you are especially recommended to attend the World Meeting of Hungarian Dog Breeds on 30 December.
It is important to note that the show is a very serious competition for the participants. The winners of the breed championships and other prizes do not only bask in the glory of the awards. Winning also has a significant impact on breeding practices. The price of offsprings can easily be inflated due to international recognition.
The dog owners attendees invest an incredible amount of energy, time and money into their pets. It is more of a professional league, with very few enthusiastic “amateurs”. It is also clear from the equipment that some families or groups of friends have been competing in this field for a long while. Depending on the breed, competitors have their own beauty table and grooming products, and many take their own mobile stirrups and cages to the four-day European Championship.
One thing is for sure: if you are a dog lover, you will not regret attending the FCI show, where only the best of Europe compete. On top of that, you can meet some special dogs up close that you have only seen in pictures.
However, it is also fun to watch the more popular dog breeds compete so that you can see what a “real” German Shepherd, Dachshund or Golden Retriever looks like.
Presumably, the organisers are focusing on the competitors, because people who are simply interested like us are not really provided with information. There were no maps or descriptions at the entrances to the pavilions, so many people just wandered around the vast area without any clue.
There is also no timetable on the stages so that visitors could learn about the upcoming events. Unfortunately, we could not find any support staff when we had questions to ask. At such a large-scale event, the minimum expectation is to have organisers at the entrances who can direct guests and provide information. This is what we missed the most.
We would also have liked to get rid of our winter coats, but this was not possible, as to our surprise, the cloakroom was not open. It goes without saying how uncomfortable it is to walk around for hours like this, especially when you have to carry your winter coats but also want to take photos of your favourite breeds.
The huge stage and temporary grandstand in Pavilion G were very well designed and, for a better experience, you can even follow the demonstrations on large screens.
The organisers are planning to have obedience and rally obedience performances, service and search dog demonstrations, dog dancing performances, distance directing performances and the Hungarian breed agility championships. We checked out the obedience show, which attracted a couple of dozen people on Tuesday at noon. This venue will be full when the event moves here in the afternoon and the judges announce the winners of the day.
On the central streets between the pavilions, there were a few stalls where you could buy food specialities. In Pavilion G, there were dog souvenirs on sale (blankets, statues, mobile kennels and the like). This exhibition will not become the favourite event for gastronomy lovers, as the selection was moderate and also quite expensive. For example, we tried some pork cuts with chips, asked for mustard and bread on the side, and although it was a large portion, we ended up paying HUF 5500.
This event is truly only recommended for dog lovers, as the dogs often get up close and personal with the visitors, and people who are less fond of dogs could possibly feel tense during this time.
But those keen on dogs will love the closeness and even a few petting sessions, with the owners’ permission of course.
All in all, we do not regret visiting the FCI European Dog Show, and if you can, go to Hungexpo in the next few days. You can find the official website and the programme schedule here.
The rodents were trained to move on the spherical treadmill by means of operant conditioning. In order to deliver positive feedback and reinforce the desired behaviour, the 29-year-old neuroscientist gave the rats sugary water.
During the past weeks, the news of a Hungarian neuroscientist’s mind-blowing experiment has conquered international tech press. Viktor Tóth taught rats to play Doom II in a custom VR setup, which he built from scratch. It took him about four months to build the VR rig for the rats, using a 3D printer, a soldering iron, a drilling machine and a set of screwdrivers. The main part of the rig is a large ball, on which the rat ran suspended in a harness. The movement of the ball was tracked by motion sensors. Since rats’ field of vision extends to 300°, the game was displayed on a curved PC monitor.
Viktor Tóth trained three rats in an automated fashion, without manual intervention, to traverse a corridor designed in DOOM Builder 2.
Later, to train the shooting behaviour, he added an imp monster on the way to the corridor. The main goal of the neuroscientist’s 11-day experiment was to try to automate the process of training animals to perform complex, context-dependent actions in VR. However, he could not fully automate the process, since the rats could not get on or off the ball without his assistance.
In the first half of 2021, Viktor Tóth had the opportunity to present his experiment at Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company, Neuralink. He sent his article about the experiment to Max Hodak, the then president of Neuralink, on Twitter. Then,
Hodak contacted the young scientist and invited him on a 30-minute online interview, which was followed by a personal job interview in the US.
“I had a relatively special job interview because I had to talk about my rat experiment instead of presenting my previous work experience to all the people in the brain-machine interface research department, the chief biologist and Hodak himself,” the young neuroscientist told Qubit.
Nonetheless, the company did not hire him in the end. One of the reasons for that was that he did not have experience in certain areas the company would have expected. For example, in connection with the MindPong project, they asked how Viktor would apply his experiment to monkeys, but the scientist only had a background in neuroscience and machine learning, but had no experience working with monkeys – or even rats – at that point.
This dangerous animal is not the first one that was seen in unusual places in Hungary.
At the end of November, a serval found in the Bükk died. The animal was in horrible shape when captured, but there was hope for it to recover. It accepted water and food but still died. The serval, which is a wild cat native to Africa, surprisingly died from Covid-19. Its health deteriorated, and the weakened animal could not fight the illness. The unusual animal did not belong to any zoo or institution, which raised suspicions that it was illegally kept by the owner. The serval might have been thrown out, or it escaped from the owner, reported Telex.
On December 11, the news site wrote about another unusual wild cat. A black animal was seen on some footage. The animal was at a construction site in Kiskunhalas.
The police, along with experts, later informed the public that the footage was real, and the wild cat is a black panther. This animal, just like the serval, was most probably illegally kept by its owner. Black panthers are native to Africa and South Asia, meaning that the Hungarian climate puts the animal in danger.
Zoltán Hanga, the spokesperson for the Budapest Zoo, told 24.hu that the animal was probably raised by humans, and it has difficulty finding food and water since it never had to hunt. The spokesperson also said that this wild cat, although dangerous, does not see people as prey. Cats, dogs, and other animals, however, could easily become its prey.
The animal can hide easily but does not attack people, unless it senses danger. If someone encounters the black panther, it is crucial not to approach the wild cat and to just walk the other way. An important thing to keep in mind is that this animal is used to people, so the instinct to avoid them is not as strong as it is in the case of panthers living in the wild.
Most recently, the panther made headlines by roaming the streets of Kecskemét and Ballószög, writes hiros.hu.
Unfortunately, keeping exotic or dangerous animals in Hungary is not as uncommon or difficult as one might think. People can buy them very cheap, and there are sellers that send the animals by post. Many of these animals end up in the streets, leaving locals in shock and horror. To find out more about the topic, click on the link below.
A band of criminals who have organised cruel dog fighting in Nyíregyháza were pressed charges against this week, a year after their arrest. The sentence of the court may surprise you.
According to Origo, the ring of eight men were breeding and training dogs for dog fighting in Nyíregyháza. They would organise fights to wager hundreds of thousands of forints by abusing the animals.
Their training method consisted of forcing the dogs to run on a custom built treadmill and keeping the animals on short, extremely heavy chains.
As if that was not enough, the tormentors were administering drugs to the dogs to dope them and increase their physical performance and aggression. In case a dog acted disobediently, they beat it up.
Origo also highlights that in addition to the tortures the dogs had to endure, they were kept in adverse conditions without being given enough food or water.
Police.hu wrote in their report, that they have caught the perpetrators and the people who wagered on the fights red handed during their joint mission with the Counter Terrorist Centre (TEK).
Further investigation revealed that one of the eight perpetrators bought a property in Nyíregyháza specifically for the purpose of organising dog fights. The members of the ring, men mostly in their 40’s, kept in touch online and would travel with their dogs to Nyíregyháza to take part in the fights.
The owner of the property just held a dog fight earlier on the day when the authorities raided the location. One of the animals suffered such severe injuries that it died on the scene.
During their raid, the authorities have confiscated equipment used to train the dogs, syringes, drugs and hard drives containing the recordings of the previous fights.
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
Footage of the aftermath of the police raid
Photo: police.hu
The Policehave seized 25 dogs and safely transported them to a shelter.
The prosecutor’s office suggested, that if the men who played leading role in organising the dog fights would confess and resign their right to trial, the court would sentence them to only one year imprisonment. While the others would face potential fines.
If we consider the extent of the cruelty of their act, only one year imprisonment might be a lenient sentence.
Even in the middle of the coldest winter, you can enjoy some tropical vibes. All you have to do is visiting one of the many Hungarian botanical gardens.
ELTE Füvészkert, Budapest
The ELTE Botanical Garden photo: www.facebook.com/pages/Elte-Füvészkert
Photo: Facebook – Fűvészkert
ELTE Füvészkert is located in the capital city. There are many tropical and subtropical plants in the palm house of this garden. The collection includes giant bananas and palms as well as avocado and citrus trees. You can also witness the colorful world of cactus, bromeliads, orchids, and carnivorous plants in this 20th century greenhouse.
The main landmark of the garden is the Victoria House.
Here, you can admire Amazon giant water lilies and Paraguayan giant water lilies flooting in the pool. There is also a ceramic statue of Ernő Nemecsek which is reminiscent of the young hero in Ferenc Molnár’s famous novel “The Paul street boys”.
Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden Photo: facebook.com/allatkertThe Elephant House todayPhoto: Daily News Hungary
The Budapest zoo houses one of the most fascinating Hungarian botanical gardens of all. You can see the wildlife of Central and South America in its palm house which was built in 1912. Look for the building called America Tropicana. Among the exotic plants, you can also find rare and unique species including warm-belted reptiles, birds, and mammals. In the aquarium underneath the palm house, tropical freshwater fish entertain visitors.
It is not only the capital city where you can enjoy some tropical time. Count Tasziló Festetics built this palm house in 1880. Its structural elements were constructed in the workshop of Gustave Eiffel in Paris. The building houses the most unique and exotic varieties collected from all over the world, from Tahiti to Florida. You can also find everyday staple crops such as cocoa, sugar cane, and coffee. You should not miss the spectacular cactus house either.
Szegedi Tudományegyetem- Füvészkert, Szeged
In this greenhouse, you can wander through a great variety of indigenous tropical plants such as vanilla and bananas, writes turizmus.com. The special attractions are the species of wetlands. You can see small cactuses and succulents in a separate showroom. Following the path, you will reach the Mediterranean greenhouse.
Here, a wonderful scenery of evergreen plants, palms, olive trees, laurels, and silver acacia awaits you.
Mátra Múzeum, Gyöngyös
You can find this palm house in the Natural History Pavilion of the museum. Here, you can marvel at a series of freshwater aquariums and terrariums featuring exotic animals in tropical-subtropical settings. The visitors’ favourite green iguanas can even be held and fed by snacks, writes matramuzem.hu.
Buying dangerous or venomous animals that could kill people in a blink of an eye seems to be out of the ordinary. It is not like that in real life, unfortunately. In the past years, there have been many instances when dangerous snakes or crocodiles were abandoned by their owners or escaped their homes. Horrified passers-by will never forget the day when they had to call the authorities in terror.
Crocodile, anaconda, python, or scorpion are just a few examples of the animals that people in Hungary bought online illegally. – reported Fókusz. These animals could kill anyone around them in the blink of an eye. In the era of the internet, it is not shocking that these animals are available for sale. What is horrific is that it is not even the dark web where these exotic, dangerous, and deadly animals can be easily purchased.
German, Austrian, Dutch sites are offering dangerous animals for sale for a price that is basically pocket money. A black mamba costs EUR 400, a cobra for sale costs EUR 100-150, but crocodiles, alligators, and caimans can also be purchased. Albino animals are available on this site as well. There are also other websites marketing these animals. Some Slovak and Czech websites offer dangerous animals for sale. And the worst is that crossing the Austrian or Slovak border with a Nile crocodile or snake can be easily carried out. What is even worse is that some sellers send the animal by post.
There is no need to explain why these animals are dangerous. Most people would certainly not want to keep a 4 meters long alligator as a pet at home. Neither would those Hungarian people who called the authorities for an anaconda that was found in District 18th of Budapest. This snake can weigh 200 kilos and grow 8 meters long.
In front of the Tropicarium, someone left a caiman in a box. This animal was relatively small with its 1.5 meters length, considering that a fully grown caiman can reach 5 meters. In Dunaharaszti, a family was living with dangerous animals such as a venomous snake and a crocodile. A python was also found near a supermarket, and knowing that it was only 1.5 meters long almost sounds like the best news in the worst situation. This animal can reach 6 meters.
In Hatvan, alligators were found in the back of a car a few years ago. The car had a Romanian license plate. There are some criminal organisations in Romania that breed and smuggle dangerous or endangered animal species.
Keeping and smuggling dangerous animals illegally has serious consequences. The criminal law states that it can be punished by a 2-year prison sentence. Another thing that owners of illegal animals probably do not consider is that antidotes are a must-have. While a poisonous snake, for instance, can be purchased relatively low cost, an antidote is worth around EUR 4,377. A dangerous animal can be kept only if the strict regulations and rules of the law are implemented.
A dangerous animal can only be kept if the owner or entity can ensure that the animal cannot escape. Particularly dangerous animals can only be kept in the zoo or in the circus if strict measures for security are taken.
Moderately dangerous animal species can be kept by those who have legal capacity, qualifications, professional experience, and all the necessary statements of consent. Besides, they must ensure secure conditions. Venomousanimals that are moderately dangerous can only be kept if the future owner can show evidence that there is an antidote in case the animal causes harm. If the animal is moderately dangerous, but not venomous, evidence must be shown that professional healthcare is available in case the animal harms someone. The law regarding dangerous animals is available HERE in Hungarian.
The statement of consent is necessary to keep a dangerous animal in Hungary. This statement should be signed only by the neigbours if the animal is not venomous. If the animal is venomous, two-third of all the residents in the adjacent holdings have to sign the statement of consent.
A Szekler man has created new animal breeds. He has been interested in genetics from a young age and now is working on creating animals that people have never heard of.
Zsigmond Rákossy was only 10 years old when his family moved to the countryside. They started to keep animals at the house. He became interested in genetics during his studies and soon after he conceived the idea of creating a new animal breed.
“I am convinced that breeding is like art: you invent and create something, not just on canvas, but in real life. Everything is in constant dynamics if one knows how to play with genes.”- he told maszol.ro.
He went on to study veterinary medicine. He wrote his thesis about genetics and in 2011 he already made his first creation, a black rabbit. At his house, the rabbit, the dog, the sheep, and the poultry are all considered Szekler. At first, nobody took his plan seriously. Today, he has many animals and is currently working on new breeds.
Rákossy created his Szekler rabbits by mixing breeds either with chinchillas or other rabbits. However, rabbits from the Szekler region provided the base for all his creations.
Szekler rabbits are in fact black sallanders, blue sallanders, and Havana sallanders. They have black, blue-grey, or beige colors. A fourth color that Rákossy has been currently working on is the purple sallander. The new breed will prove to be successful if the colors are passed down to the next generation of rabbits.
Rákossy was working on his project for 3 or 4 years. He did not receive support from anyone. Moreover, people thought that his ideas were crazy. In 2016, he finally received some credits for his efforts at an exhibition in Bucharest. Now, he is preparing for another exhibition in Luxembourg which will be held in 2022. The breed standards of Szekler rabbits have been published in the Romanian and Hungarian standard books.
The rabbits are kept in their natural habitat as much as it is possible. Rákossy said that it interferes with the natural selection if the animals are way too protected. It can lead to quality decrease. He has currently 80 rabbits, but in the past he even had 150-200. There are new litters 2 or 3 times a year. A rabbit can give birth to offsprings 5 times a year, but Rákossy does not let that happen in order to ensure that only the healthiest rabbits are born. An ideal rabbit weighs 5 or 6.5 kilograms. Unfortunately, these animals are not pets but they are bred for consumption. Nowadays, 50 official breeders have Szekler rabbits, a breed whose creation took up 6 years.
Rákossy also created Szekler, bald-necked, viador-type poultry. However, this breed is not for consumption. This breed is a “rustic-style ornamental animal” which comes in yellow and blue colors. The development of a Szekler dog breed is also in process but it takes a longer time. The goal is to have a dog breed that fits he local needs so people do not have buy imported dogs. He also entertained the idea of creating a Szekler pigeon, but as he said, “a man has to know his limits”.
