Press release Stag beetle wanted – The successful Citizen Science project for forest nature conservation goes into the next round

Freising, 18.04.2023: In 2022, the Bavarian State Institute for Forests and Forestry (LWF) and the Rhön Biodiversity Centre (BioZ) at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) called on the public to report stag beetle findings. In 2022 alone, 1733 confirmed stag beetle reports from 1305 reporters were recorded in this way in cooperation with the association Hirschkäferfreunde-NatureTwo e.V.. The project is now entering a new round. From mid-April onwards, the call will be out again: stag beetles wanted throughout Bavaria.

A closer look at the reporting data from 2022 reveals that the distribution of the warmth-loving species is mainly concentrated in Franconia. However, individual finds were also reported from Munich and Passau. Most of the beetles (1125) were found in settlement areas. Significantly fewer stag beetles were found at the edge of forests (301), in forests (173) and in open areas (134). It was particularly pleasing that almost 90 percent of the reports were of uninjured beetles. The majority of the reports came from the months of May and June and especially from the time between 12:00 and 15:00. “When the temperatures are warm, the beetles are very mobile and the chances of hearing, seeing and observing them increase,” explains LWF expert Anna Kanold.