Nature and Ecosystems: An Analysis - Sheep farmers demand clear legal guidelines for wolf hunting.
At the beginning of the Environmental Ministers' Conference in Bad Dürkheim, shepherds pushed for legally certain circumstances that would allow them to shoot wolves in certain scenarios. Moreover, they called for a unified active wolf management across state lines, the Association for the Advancement of German Sheep Farming announced on a Wednesday.
Most likely, they were referring to a ruling made by the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg. In April, it decided that shooting a wolf in the Hannover area was forbidden, and overturned complaints lodged by the State Office for Water Management, Coastal Protection, and Nature Conservation against a decision made by the Administrative Court in Oldenburg. Marking the end of the exception permit for swiftly killing the predator, the OVG had previously shared this information.
In the region where this happened, cattle had been slain by wolves numerous times. This led to the first application of the rapid procedure for shooting down a wolf by the state of Lower Saxony. In this rapid procedure, a DNA test to pinpoint a specific animal is no longer required. Instead, a wolf could be shot within a 1000-meter radius of a slaughtered farm animal within a 21-day window.
The quick shooting regulations for regions with expanding wolf populations were reconciled unanimously by the Environmental Ministers' Conference (UMK) on December 1, 2023. The issue has now resurfaced at the UMK gathering in Bad Dürkheim, which goes on from Wednesday to Friday.
Contrary to this, Rhineland-Palatinate saw no alterations in spite of the UMK decision from late 2023. Environment Minister Katrin Eder (Greens) mentioned that the decision would be integrated into the revision of the country's nationwide practice guide. Additionally, a consultation will be conducted with other federal states with similar conditions, as well as with neighboring countries Belgium and Luxembourg.
