Hunting
The rich and diverse flora has enabled various mammals, birds, reptiles (turtles, lizards, six species of venomous snakes, etc.) to live on the territory of the municipality of Kursumlija. The main game species in the hunting grounds of Kuršumlija are wild boar, rabbit and partridge.
Earlier, deer were also hunted, but due to their numerous condition, they were protected. Other protected game species are: deer, mouflon, squirrel, gray down, badger, marten beetle, marten whitefly, muskrat, wild pigeon, turtle dove, dove, pheasant, partridge, quail, wild goose, wild duck, gray heron, marsh roosters, poppy, crayfish, hawk, divers, sparrows, grebes, night terns, forest snipe, etc.
Permanently protected species are: otter, ermine, weasel, owls, falcons, eagles, hawks, divers, black and white storks, swans, herons (except gray herons), hawks, swordfish, cuckoos, goldfinches, waterfowl, pupae, wild geese , snipes (except forest snipes), woodpeckers, songbirds (except gray crows, terns) and others.
Game outside the protection regime: wolf, jackal, wild cat, fox, skunk, gray crow and magpie.
The hunting association “Soko” was founded back in 1899 as a shooting club, which was later transformed into the hunting association “Soko”. It has 520 registered hunters and manages the hunting ground “Kosanica” on a total hunting area of 65,271 hectares. The following species of game are represented in the hunting ground: roe deer, wild boar, wolves, foxes, wild cat, rabbits, pheasants, partridge and, somewhat less frequently, the wood pigeon and the wood snipe.
The hunting grounds “Sumata” (18,964 ha) and “Sokolovica” (7,075 ha) are managed by the forest farm “Toplica”, which has no membership but allows hunting to members of the hunting association by paying a one-day permit. In 1987, a shelter for mouflon game on an area of 26 ha was established within the hunting ground “Sokolovica”, and in 1997 a large game farm “Miloš’s water” was established.
This farm breeds European deer and wild boar, on a fenced area of 466 ha. There are almost all facilities for intensive game breeding, as well as a hunting guard house with an accompanying economic building for storing game food, processing trophies, etc.
Fishing
The municipal organization of sport fishermen “Toplica” in Kursumlija has 250 members; belongs to the Association of Sport Fishermen’s Organizations “South Morava II” whose headquarters are in Nis. It was founded in 1947 and is the oldest organization of sport fishermen in the former SFR Yugoslavia. Mountain rivers are inhabited by trout and rich in crayfish, especially the Stava, Trebinja and Prolom rivers. During 2003, the Lukovo river was restocked from Lukovska Spa to Mercez with about 9,000 specimens of brown trout.
White fish (chub, perch, barbel, brook barbel and skobalj) live in Toplica, Rankovci, Banjska and its tributaries, Kosanica and its tributaries (Prolomska and Ravnosort rivers), as well as in Grabovnica and Spance (Tmava) rivers.