At cracks in the dike - Court: Shooting a wolf at the coast is not permitted.
It remains the case: At the North Sea coast, no Wolf may be shot. The complaints of the Aurich district against the shooting ban imposed by the Oldenburg Administrative Court were rejected by the Oldenburg Higher Administrative Court. The decisions are final.
The Aurich district had granted an exception permit for the so-called removal, or killing, of a wolf at the beginning of July. The Administrative Court halted this permit on an emergency basis. It saw that the conditions for the shooting permit had not been met. The permit was therefore deemed unlawful.
The Aurich district had justified the permit with the district administration stating that further serious damages were to be expected. The Chamber did not see it that way. In particular, the district administration had not taken into account that there was no minimum wolf-repelling protection at the cracks. The district had to prove that protective measures such as strengthening the existing or setting up a mobile fence were not feasible on the dike. The Higher Administrative Court agreed with this assessment.
The district had allowed the removal in the controversial quick-shooting procedure. In this procedure, the wolf may be shot within a radius of 1,000 meters around the last damage incident. For the procedure, no DNA analysis is required to identify the wolf to be shot, which is responsible for the damage.
The reason, according to the district administration, was "recurring problematic damage behavior." According to the court, it was about four killed and four injured sheep in the community of Dornum. Whether it was the same wolf that was last sighted on the island of Norderney is not known.
- Despite the final rejection of their complaints by the Oldenburg Higher Administrative Court, the District Aurich continues to express concerns about wolf-related damages along the North Sea Coast.
- The Administrative Court in Oldenburg ruled that the District Aurich's request for permission to shoot a wolf in July was unlawful due to insufficient consideration of natural protection measures and agricultural practices.
- The Administrative Court in Oldenburg further criticized the District Aurich for not considering alternative methods of wolf repelling, such as strengthening existing fences or setting up mobile fences, before granting an exception permit for the wolf's removal.
- While the Lower Saxony government's North Sea Coast region has strict wildlife protection regulations, the District Aurich's right to grant exceptions in certain cases is subject to review by the Administrative Court.
- With the ongoing wolf presence along the North Sea Coast, farmers and environmentalists in the District Aurich and neighboring cities like Emden and Leer will continue to debate the balance between agriculture, natural protection, and wolf conservation.
