According to cracks in the dike - No shooting of wolves at coast - controversial discussion
The decision of the Administrative Court in Oldenburg that no Wolf shooting is allowed at the North Sea coast initially causes discussions. The CDU-State Parliamentary Faction urges Minister-President Stephan Weil (SPD) to initiate a Federal Council initiative to amend the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Only then can a nationwide regulation be made. The sheep farmers are also upset.
The Environment Ministry referred to the fact that the Landkreis Aurich can file a complaint against the decision with the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg. In addition, the European Court of Justice has decided that the hunting ban on wolves in Austria is valid because wolves are strictly protected. The Ministry intends to examine both decisions carefully.
"We want our sheep farmers in Lower Saxony to be able to work in peace and continue to protect our dikes from humans with sheep. This requires a change to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, so that finally wolf shootings are possible," explained the chairman of the CDU-State Parliamentary Faction, Sebastian Lechner.
His faction will submit a resolution in the Landtag. "It was said that one only had to change a guideline to allow wolf shootings. The latest administrative court rulings have shown that this was a mistake," he emphasized. The Association for the Promotion of German Sheep Farming called on the Federal Government to initiate comprehensive legislative changes to create legal certainty for sheep farming and prevent shootings from being stopped by courts.
Court in Oldenburg stops exceptional permission
The Administrative Court in Oldenburg granted an emergency application against an exceptional permission for the killing, i.e. the shooting, of a wolf in the Landkreis Aurich. The Chamber therefore decided on a Wednesday that the necessary conditions for the shooting permit had not been met, as the Court announced. The exceptional permit was therefore declared invalid. The Wolf Protection Circle had filed an objection against the planned shooting. The court ruling is not yet legally binding.
As a reason for the permit, the district administration had named "repeated problematic tearing behavior" on July 4. According to the court, it was about four killed and four injured sheep in Dornum. Whether it was the same wolf that was last sighted on the island of Norderney, which belongs to the district, the district administration did not know according to its own statement. The shooting of the predator was to take place faster. It was authorized until July 21.
Similar case in the Hanover region
The so-called quick shooting procedure allowed the shooting of a wolf within a radius of 1,000 meters around the last tearing incident in the community of Dornum. For the procedure, no DNA investigation is required to specifically release the wolf for shooting that is responsible for the tearing. The agreement on quicker wolf shootings had been reached between the Federation and the States at the end of 2023. In the past, the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg had also stopped a permit for a quick shooting procedure in the Hanover region.
The Aurich District had justified the permission based on the court, among other things, with dike security. "The recurring cracking behavior anticipates further serious damages," the district administration had originally stated. However, the Chamber did not see it that way. In particular, the district administration had not taken into account that no minimum level of wolf-repelling protection was given at the cracks. The district had to prove that protective measures, such as enhancing the existing fence or erecting a mobile fence, were not feasible on the dike.
- The decision in Oldenburg has sparked debate within Lower Saxony's Agriculture sector, particularly among sheep farmers.
- Stephan Weil, the CDU-led state government's head, is being pressured to propose a Federal Council initiative to modify the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
- The EUGH has upheld Austria's wolf hunting ban, since wolves are stringently protected under environmental law.
- The Environment Ministry suggests that the Landkreis Aurich could challenge the decision in the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg.
- Sebastian Lechner, the CDU's state parliamentary group leader, advocates for amending the Federal Nature Conservation Act to allow wolf shootings, ensuring sheep farmers' peace and protecting dikes.
- Lechner's faction will submit a resolution in the Lower Saxony state parliament, pointing out that a simple guideline change would not suffice to allow wolf shootings.
- The Association for German Sheep Farming advocates for comprehensive legislative changes in the Bundestag, seeking to provide legal certainty for sheep farming and avoid future court challenges.
- The District of Aurich obtained an exceptional permit for wolf shooting due to "problematic tearing behavior" by a wolf near Dornum but was later invalidated by the Administrative Court in Oldenburg.
- A similar quick shooting procedure was used in the Hanover region, leading to a court challenge in the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg, which also halted the procedure.
