For fear of wolves, around a third of all sheep grazing on the Dachstein plateau were driven down to the valley a month earlier than usual.
200 sheep are missing, ten carcasses were found: According to Gerhard Fallent from the Wolfsstopp initiative, this prompted several Ramsau farmers to evacuate their grazing animals in an emergency on Monday – a month earlier than usual known throughout the Dachstein region: “The wolf or wolves not only kill an animal on the Dachstein plateau, which they then feed on for a while,” says Obertraun (Upper Austria) Mayor Egon Höll. “Instead, at the sight of the flocks, the predators go on a blood frenzy, killing and injuring as many animals as possible.” The sheep, in turn, scatter in blind panic, get lost or fall. The shooting order has been issued, but so far there have been no removals. Unfortunately, many now have a pessimistic view of the peaceful coexistence of humans, sheep and wolves. “The country is lagging behind” Gerhard Fallent shoots really sharply: “It is unbearable for many alpine farmers to see how wolves kill their alpine animals cruelly and leave behind battlefields. The country is defaulting.” The facts apart from the emotion: In Styria this year, seven proven wolf attacks with 17 killed and 12 injured sheep were documented. The state of Styria is currently still working on a wolf ordinance.
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