| Summary: | T he Eurasian moose ( Alces alces L.) is the largest herbivorous animal in forests. The species occurs mainly the eastern and central parts of the country. In 2001, the Minister of the Environment decided to impose a moratorium on this species throughout Poland, which resulted in an increase in the population of this species. The aim of the study was to analyze the size of the moose population in the years 2013-2021 in the Regional Directorate of State Forests in LublinThe amount of damage caused by moose and the costs incurred by the RDLP Lublin for protecting the forest against animals were also determined. The data was obtained from the State Forests Information System (SILP). In the analyzed years, the number of moose occuring the forest areas of the RDLP Lublin increased from 2,414 to 6,119 art. A particularly high number of moose inhabits the northern and central parts of the directorate, where in 2021 the feeding ground capacity was exceeded 5-6 times. In the years 2013-21, the damaged area caused by moses amounted to an average of 1,175 ha per year. The analysis showed a significant increase in the forest districts expenses to protect the forest against animals. In 2013, the costs incurred by the Lublin RDLP forest districts to protect the forest against animals amounted to 4 634 12,81 PLN, and by 2021 they increased to 9,347,310.72. Spearman’s correlation coefficient, between the number of moose and the costs of forest protection, was 0.87 and was statistically significant. Whereas no significant relationship between the damage and the number of moose and the costs of forest protection was obtained. Concluding, the increasing number of moose does not significantly increase the area of damage in the forests, but it results in a significant increase in the costs incurred by forest districts for protecting the forest against animals. The increasing number of moose not only affects on the forest management, by increasing the costs of forest protection, but also increases the number of road and rail ...
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