New legislative procedure - Government holds onto Wolf Regulation - new lawsuit in sight
The legal dispute over Bayern's controversial Wolf Regulation may face another extension. After the state government suffered a humiliating defeat in court on July 18th due to a procedural error rendering the regulation invalid, they have now sent the regulation for approval. It seems the Wolf Regulation will continue in effect despite all content-related criticisms.
"If the regulation is passed, we have no other option but to sue again," said the chairman of BUND Naturschutz in Bayern, Richard Mergner, to the German Press Agency in Munich. The new regulation is identical to the old one, "which is problematic and incomprehensible from our perspective." Representatives of the State Government had already stated immediately after the ruling that they had no intention of altering the content of the regulation.
Mergner: Government wastes time and tax money
"Even though the Administrative Court only overturned the old regulation due to a procedural error, the content issues are obvious. The government is acting recklessly here and wasting time and taxpayer money," Mergner emphasized.
According to the controversial Bavarian regulation, wolves can be shot since May 2023 if they pose a threat to human health or public safety - for instance, if they approach humans repeatedly within 30 meters or are repeatedly seen within less than 200 meters of closed settlements, buildings, or stables.
It is also possible to shoot wolves "to prevent serious agricultural or other serious economic damages." This specifically targets the Alm and meadow economy in the mountains. Wolves can be shot in "non-grazable meadow areas" even if they only kill a single livestock animal. These are areas where herding protection is either impossible or inappropriate.
Bundestag report questions Bavarian Regulation
The Bavarian Wolf Regulation is not only controversial among animal and nature protection organizations: A report from the Scientific Service of the German Bundestag has already come to the conclusion that it is not compatible with the applicable federal and EU law. In this report, it is questioned whether wolves can be killed even if damages to grazing animals cannot be definitively attributed to them or have not yet been identified.
Currently, there are wolves in ten regions of Bavaria that are resident to the area. Since May, there have been only three reported incidents attributed to wolves by the Bavarian Environment Agency: At the end of June, two dead goats in the Landkreis Rhön-Grabfeld, and in the same landkreis, a dead sheep in the middle of May.
- Richard Mergner, the chairman of BUND Naturschutz in Bayern, has threatened to sue again if the state government's controversial Wolf Regulation is passed, as stated to the German Press Agency in Munich.
- The new Wolf Regulation, identical to the old one, is facing criticism from Mergner and other nature protection associations due to its problematic content.
- Mergner believes that the state government is wasting time and taxpayer money by persisting with the regulation despite its contentious issues and the procedural error that rendered the old regulation invalid.
- The controversial Bavarian regulation permits the shooting of wolves if they pose a threat to human health or public safety, or if they cause serious agricultural or economic damages.
- The report from the Scientific Service of the German Bundestag questions the compatibility of the Bavarian Wolf Regulation with federal and EU law and raises concerns about killing wolves when damages to grazing animals cannot be definitively attributed to them.
- According to the Bavarian Environment Agency, there have been only three reported incidents attributed to wolves since May 2023, in ten regions of Bavaria, where wolves have established residency.
