Zoran (Aritona) Ristić was born on October 19, 1956, in Karavukovo, Municipality of Odžaci. He completed elementary school in his hometown in 1971 and graduated from the Forestry High School in Kraljevo in 1975. In 1980, he earned his degree from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Belgrade.
His first employment was with the Hunting Association of Vojvodina in 1982, where he worked until 1993. In 1992, he obtained his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade with the thesis: “Elements of the Population Dynamics of the Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix L.) in Vojvodina as a Basis for Determining the Degree of Utilization.” From February 1, 1993, he joined Lovoturs, and in 2003 he began working in the Directorate of JP “Vojvodinašume”, where he remained until 2006. He then transferred to the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management (Hunting Tourism program). In 2004, he earned his Ph.D. with the dissertation: “Game Birds as Part of the Hunting Tourism Offer in Vojvodina.”
He participated in more than ten scientific research projects, including: determining the actual growth rate of grey partridge populations in Vojvodina’s hunting grounds; assessing winter losses of grey partridges in hunting grounds; determining the actual growth of small game in hunting grounds; survival rates of pheasant chicks introduced into hunting grounds from artificial breeding; pheasant reproduction in Vojvodina’s hunting areas; studies on the typing of avian and other influenza viruses using molecular diagnostic techniques; monitoring wildlife health and introducing new biotechnological methods for detecting infectious and zoonotic agents – risk analysis for human, domestic, and wild animal health and environmental contamination; examining the effects of egg selection and incubation factors on the morpho-functional characteristics of embryonic and postnatal development with the aim of increasing pheasant chick viability, and more.
To date, he has published over 100 scientific papers and authored around 20 books, brochures, and textbooks. For his contributions, he has been awarded most of the hunting honors of the Hunting Association of Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Vojvodina, and has also received more than 20 diplomas, plaques, and other recognitions from hunting associations and societies.
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