NRW minister expects order for wolf cull "shortly"
NRW Environment Minister Oliver Krischer expects the necessary general decree for the shooting of the problem wolf GW954f, popularly known as "Gloria", to be issued "shortly". The minister said this on Wednesday in the state parliament's environment committee. The district of Wesel, in whose area the Schermbeck wolf territory on the Lower Rhine falls, is responsible.
According to the Green politician, new livestock kills were genetically verified on October 20, 21 and 24. In his view, the conditions of the wolf ordinance for the removal of the animal were therefore fulfilled. The state had worked intensively with the district of Wesel and provided it with all the necessary information for the legal assessment of the economic damage caused by the wolf, for example.
"Gloria" is said to have killed numerous farm animals over several years, including a large number of sheep and a pony.
Nevertheless, nature conservation associations reject the idea of shooting the wolf at the present time. The NRW wolf areas are a long way from comprehensive herd protection, i.e. comprehensive fencing of livestock. Nabu, BUND and the Landesgemeinschaft Naturschutz und Umwelt (LNU) emphasized in a joint statement on Tuesday that as long as there are no fences for protection, the shooting of the strictly protected wolves should not be considered.
Last week, the district of Wesel emphasized that a possible cull must be thoroughly examined and must always be carried out in a legally secure manner.
An attempt by a shepherd to shoot the she-wolf had already failed before the Düsseldorf Administrative Court in 2021. "The Wesel district's review has not yet been completed. All questions in this regard can and will only be answered once the review has been completed," the district explained on Wednesday.
A new decree is being prepared in NRW to make it easier to shoot wolves. The decree stipulates that genetically identified wolves may be shot if they have climbed over intact protective fences of at least 0.90 meters in height at least twice in close temporal proximity and killed animals.
The consultation period for this decree expired on November 19 and it will come into force "shortly", Krischer announced at the committee meeting.
In the ongoing debate about wolf management in NRW, environmental organizations like Nabu, BUND, and the LNU advocate for comprehensive fencing of livestock as a alternative to wolf culling, citing the fact that current wolf areas are not fully protected. The newly proposed environmental policy in NRW includes a decree that allows genetically identified wolves to be shot if they have crossed intact protective fences multiple times and killed animals, which is expected to be enacted soon.
Source: www.dpa.com
