The distribution and utilization of the Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) in the Carpathian Basin from the 19th century to the present

The Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) has been a sporadic species in the Carpathian Basin throughout the ages. Because of its rarity, it was not hunted in the same tradition as other grouse species in the region. Despite this, small numbers were shot year after year, its meat was eaten and its tail feathers were a valuable hunting trophy. In the present study, we collected the information available in the literature on the former distribution, hunting and trade of this species in the Carpathian Basin. According to national hunting statistics from the turn of the 19^th and 20th centuries, the largest populations were found in the mountainous areas of the present-day Slovakia and Transylvania (Romania). Between 1884 and 1909, three counties accounted for 56.2% of the total number of hunting bags: Liptó (21.7%), Szepes (18.5%), Gömör–Kishont (16.0%). Bags having a minimum 10 kills each were recorded in 18 counties, of which the counties of Árva (6.1%), Máramaros (5.4%) and Sáros (5.4%) accounted for the highest numbers. More modest Black Grouse bags were reported in the Eastern Carpathians (Romania), where, in addition to Máramaros (5.4%), the counties of Csík (3.0%), Udvarhely (1.2%) and Brassó (1.0%) are worth mentioning. For the areas neighbouring these counties, only sporadic data are available. The most stable populations may have been in Máramaros, but here, as in Transylvania in general, a slightly decreasing trend was observed. It also occurred sporadically in western Hungary, and a small population may have survived in northern Hungary until the 1920s. Today, only the strongest populations of this species remain, and the peripheral populations have been disappeared over time due to habitat conversion as a result of increasingly intensive forestry.