The year of 1998 began with a landslide victory: In January, Polish wolf experts finally achieved a complete ban on the shooting of wolves. While there had already been hunting bans for a number of years in most of the regions in which wolves were found, wolf shoots were still being sold to foreign tourists along the borders to Slovakia and the Ukraine for 2000 German Marks a piece. Until 1995 about 50 wolves had been killed annually - out of a total population of only 500 to 750! And even for the winter of 1996/97 permits had been granted for the shooting of 93 wolves. Thankfully, wolves are smart and only 16 were actually shot. Thanks to a responsible decision taken by the Environmental Ministry Polish wolves are now safe from the massive disturbances caused by the hunting activities.