The Carpathian Mountains are one of the most important regions for forest management in Poland, and at the same time is a crucial habitat for large carnivores. The western-most range is the Western Beskidy Mountains, located near the Polish-Slovakian and the Polish-Czech border. The region includes two mountain ranges: the Silesian Beskidy Mts. and the Żywiecki Beskidy Mts. (total area 745 km2), separated by the Soła River valley. Altitude ranges from 300 to 1557 m a.s.l. Most of the area is covered by spruce forest (55-90%). The region is densely inhabited by humans (on average, 150 persons/km2). There are numerous towns and villages, located in river valleys and on lower, deforested slopes (up to 600 m a.s.l.).
There is some agriculture and livestock farming, where small sheep and goat flocks are an important source of income. Most of the forests are exploited; only 1% is protected in a small number of nature reserves. There are large meadows located in the forests; some of them are still used as pastures for livestock grazing, the rest have been unused for a long time, and have been recolonised by trees. There are a large number of weekend cabins and recreation centres along the forest peripheries as well as many ski lifts, ski routes, and tourist paths in the forest. Human penetration into the forest is intense during weekends and holidays. Foresters’ activities have increased markedly since the winter of 2004/2005, after a hurricane and following dry summer seasons that caused a severe damage to local spruce monocultures, which led to clearing and re-forestation of large areas. Consequently a number of new forest roads are being built, which will make access to wildlife refuges much easier.
The ungulate community is dominated by roe deer (74%), followed by red deer (21%), and wild boar (5%). The guild of large predators includes the wolf, lynx Lynx lynx and brown bear Ursus arctos. Currently the area is occupied by five wolf packs, two in the Silesian Beskidy Mts. and three in the Żywiecki Beskidy Mts. Packs in the Żywiecki Beskidy Mts. are subject to seasonal wolf hunting in the Slovak part of their territories. The total wolf number varies with seasons, but an average is 20 individuals.