It is a predator fish with long and flat body. It has medium sized silvery scales. It is a pretentious fish with short periods of intensive feeding (1-2 hours) and quite exasperating slothfullness moments. The minimum size of a caught rapacious carp is of 30 cm. The lure used for sport fishing: spinners and small oscillators, live fish, twister. It is very suspicious, that is why the line should be very thin: a 0.25 mm wire should do.

Fishing places in Danube Delta - Caraorman: usually at the confluences of channels but also in larger lakes channels, like Crisan-Caraorman.

Fishing period: During the whole fishing period, but mostly in autumn.

Is a massive and muscular animal, of big size, weighting over 300 kg, or even 400 kg. The legs are long, strong, muscular with curved claws. The color of the bear’s fur differs very much, from bright brown to black or grey black.

The life expectancy is appreciated around 20-30 years. The living specimen are appreciated based on the shape, and the shot ones by the dentition that gets yellow and blunt once with the age of 6-7. The sexual dimorphism is poor pronounced. The bear growls when threatened by men or shot by a bullet. The sense of smell and hearing are very fine developed, but the eyesight is mediocre.

Prefers wide and quiet mountain forests, but also those from hills, valleys area and with water source. Travels on long distances, sometimes even up to 100 km in order to find food. Periodically comes back to its birth place for hibernating.

The hibernation – is during winter time – when the biological rhythm is slowed, but nonetheless at the slightest sound, the bear wakes up and becomes conscious of the environment. During hibernation it feeds on the fat supply acquired during summer. Is an omnivor animal and eats cereals, fruits, plants, seeds, as well as larves, animal corpses and even wild and domestic animals when succeeds to hunt them down. An aspect to remember is that there are also „carnivore bears” that constantly feed on animal flash, especially with domestic animals.

The enemy of the bear is the wolf and sometimes the shepherd dog, especially for bear cubs. The bears are solitary animals that travel teritorries from autumn to spring in order to find food. The female bear together with the bear cubs up to 2 years old, form a family. The gestation period lasts 7-8 months, after which the female bears give birth to 1-3 small blind cubs, of 400-500 gr each. After 2-3 months, the cubs are taken out of the hole and breastfed until autumn. The female bear usually gives birth one in 2 years, the cubs becoming independent after this age.

In general, the bear keeps away from humans, but if hurt, chased by dogs or threatened by the presence of humans, then attacks. It can climb trees and runs in large leaps. The female bear is more agressive, especially if she is accompanied by cubs. The bear hunting – in Europe the bear is protected through international conventions, due to the extinction danger. In Romania the bear is hunted, but within limits.The bear can be shot during the periods established by the Ministry of Rural Agriculture and development, between March 15- May 15 and September 1- December 31. The hunting methods are the chase, stalking and ambush.

The hunting of the bears from closed observatory points is strictly forbidden.

The conventional trophy is the fur and the skull, while the unconventional one is the penis bone.

Weight: 268-440 kg.

Living environment: wide and quite forests, cliffs, tree bushes.

Hunting season: Is established by the approval of the line ministry.

Length: 60-87 cm;

Spread of the wings: 87 - 125 cm;

Longevity: 10 years;

Weight: Female: 1500-2000 g;

Male: 3400-3600 g;

Living environment: forests of spruces and mixed forests of coniferous and broad leaved trees, at altitudes higher than 1200m;

Hunting season: Apr 1st – May 15th;

Restrictions: is allowed only the hunting of males, the females being under protection regime.

The cat fish is the largest fish in the fresh waters of Romania, the record in the Danube Delta is of 400 kilos. It is a grey fish without scales, its skin being protected by layer of mucus. It has a pair of mustaches on its upper jaw and on its lower jaw it has 4 mustaches used for sensing, which together with the very developed smell are used to compensate the poor eyesight. These are signs of adapting to the deep and muddy waters. The minimum size of a caught catfish is of 50 cm.

The lure used for sport fishing: In the Delta the frequent lure is the mole cricket, a worm pile, frogs, live bait (fry especially), twister, wobbler and spoon. Artificial lures aren't of real luck.

Fishing places in Danube Delta - Caraorman: usually the catfish gets together on the bottom of deep channels in pits, for example in Crisan-Caraorman channel.

Fishing period: During summer the catfish feeds intensively and July is a very good fishing period. During wintertime it goes into pits for winter sleep and its activity decreases as the water temperature decreases.

The are medium-sized water birds which are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. These birds are omnivorous, taking mainly plant material, but also small animals and eggs. Are aggressively during the breeding season, but otherwise are often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow vegetated lakes they prefer. There are permanent guests in the Danube Delta.

It has a flat body and big silvery scales. A very prolific fish, is largely spread and appreciated for the taste of its meat. The crucian is a very stout fish, that is why we can encounter it in waters with low oxygen level, while other fish can't. It has probably appeared in the Danube Delta by accident following the flood of the 70's. Its usual weight is of 500-800 grams and the minimum size of a caught crucian is of 15 cm.

The lure used for sport fishing: the worm, polenta, bread, etc.

Fishing places in Danube Delta - Caraorman: it is fished in places with low stream or even lacking stream, such as Crisan-Caraorman.

Fishing period: The same as the carp, starting from June and up to October.

The Deer (Cervus Elaphus L.) – is a herbivore mammal of brown-red color with a pronounced sexual dimorphism. Male deer are bigger than the female deer and show the so-called horns which they fall annually. Generally, the males weight between 180-300 kg, and the females reach only between 80-150 kg. The males lose their horns each year at the beginning of March, phenomena that is spreading, depending on the age and the robustness of each deer, even until May. At the age of 1 year old, in May, it starts to grow the first set of horns that will last until September the same year. These horns are 20-30 cm long, without rosettes. The deer lives around 18-20 years, but don’t reach this age in the wild. Between 12-14 years the deer reach the apex, after which, fall into decay. The age of the living deer can be appreciated based on the appearance and trophy, and that of the shot animals by the bluntness of the teeth. When scared, both genders make a different sound, more nasal. The male deer stays with the females only during the mating period when the male roars. The deer has a sharp sense of smell, good hearing and sight. Lives in the large forests areas that have meadows or glades with springs, where it can find quite, shelter and food sources. Often, the deer is met in the plains. During winter is hard to find food, and usually consists of stalk, buds and sometimes bark, green leaves buried under the snow, dry leaves and herbs, as well as green plants from the cultivated agricultural fields. The acorn and the beech mast represent the basic food in such areas. The worst natural enemy of the deer is the wolf. Less damage is done by the lynx and the bear. Lately, the wild stray dog, tend to replace the wolf, especially, for eating the baby deer. The deer is sociable from autumn to spring, time when the males group in herds led by a young deer and the females in separate groups from the ones without horns led by the oldest one. Only the very old and powerful deer live in solitude. The mating season starts in September, first in the lowland areas, then in the mountains, ending in the second half of October. Between males there are fiery fights, for the supremacy of leadership of the herd. It is good to remember that during the mating period the deer eliminate a specific smell, easy sensed even by humans. The deer without horns, usually, give birth to 1-2 calves, very rarely 3, and can follow their mother only after 1-2 hours after being born. The hunting season is between September 1st and December 15th for males and ends later on the February 15th for the deer without horns. The trophy is considered to be the horns with the skull or a part of it. The unconventional trophies are the „pearls” (the small canines), the mane hair, the Hubertus cross. The hunting is done with the rifle of a 7mm bullet caliber. The best hunting period is the mating season. The hunting methods are the ambush and stalking with or without a bugle. The shooting while chasing is forbidden by law. The selections of males are done based on the general appearance of the horns, after the criteria established for all horned animals. Another favorable period of selection is after the formation of herds period (November 15th to December 15th), when by comparison can be chosen the best unable to reproduce deer.

Longevity: 20 years;

Weight: 170-315 kg;

Length: 240-250 cm;

Height (at wither): 152-155 cm;

Living environment: wide forests in the Carpathians;

Male hunting season: Sep 1st –Dec 15th;

Female hunting season: Sep 1st –Feb 15th.

Is a swimming, migratory bird. In Romania is a summer guest and in passing starting with February and leaves in November. It is known as the ancestor of the domestic geese. Is the biggest one amongst the geese met in our country (3-4 kg). Is of brown-grey color and the contour feathers are hemmed with white. The beak and the eyelids are of pink-orange color, the tip of the beak white, and the legs of pink-red color. There aren’t any obvious differences between the males and the females.

The hearing and sight are sharp. The sounds made by the summer geese are similar to those made by domestic geese. During the flight, they fly irregularly in the „V” shape. A big part of the big geese nests in Danube Delta, but in others place with reeds in the south part of the country.

Prefer wide and quiet ponds with reeds and rush because they found there food and nest conditions. In general, they eat plant. During the feeding period, the flock will be guarded by scouts that signal any danger. The transition from the field to the pond is done twice a day, in the early morning and at dawn. The flocks are led by an old goose, which at the slightest sign of danger will let know the entire flock. The geese hunting is usually very exciting, the camouflage being the key of success.

The hunting season is between 15.08 – 28.02 and usually is used the gun with 4,5- 5,00 mm shot but also the rifle with a small caliber bullet.