128 packs, 39 pairs and 9 individual territorial animals: the wolf is once again widespread in Germany. What conservationists like is a headache for some livestock owners. The environment ministers of the federal states now want to regulate the handling of predators with a practical guide.
According to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus, the federal states have responded to the long controversial Practical Guide agreed to the wolf. The guidelines clearly and legally stipulate the conditions under which a wolf may be killed, said the SPD politician before today’s conference of federal and state environment ministers in Rostock. Most recently, Saxony-Anhalt has agreed. The goal was to create a balance between the livestock owners and nature conservationists. “The fact remains: the wolf is still a strictly protected species.”
Controversial points have so far arisen, among other things, from the different levels of concern of the countries on the subject of wolf. It can be assumed that in future every federal state will have to deal with the problem of wolf. The almost 60-page guide, which, according to Backhaus, largely bears the signature of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, gives clear information on herd protection and the killing of wolves. “Affected animal owners, especially sheep and goat farmers, now hold a piece of paper in their hands that regulates the procedure in the event of a livestock rupture in a transparent and nationwide manner,” said Backhaus.
Till Backhaus (SPD), Environment Minister MV
The fact remains: the wolf is still a strictly protected species.
(Photo: dpa)
The wolf population in Germany is further concentrated in the area from the Saxon Lausitz in a north-westerly direction via Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to Lower Saxony. Individual territorial occurrences are currently proven for Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia.
According to the latest data from the Federal Documentation and Advice Center on the subject of wolves for the 2019/20 monitoring year, 128 packs, 39 wolf pairs and 9 individual territorial animals were detected in Germany. In 2020, the agency registered 942 attacks by wolves on farm animals nationwide, most of them in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg.
