Rapid cull for wolves after grazing animal kill to come
Following a decision at the Conference of Environment Ministers, Brandenburg will make it easier to shoot wolves after they have killed grazing animals. Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) announced on Friday that the wolf ordinance would be revised in the near future. However, the wolf as a protected species may still not be shot "arbitrarily".
Particularly hard-hit federal states want to make it possible to shoot wolves more quickly by the start of the 2024 grazing season with uniform state ordinances. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) announced talks in Münster on Friday next week. The countries in question are Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony.
At a two-day meeting, the federal and state environment ministers agreed that wolves that have climbed over protective fences and killed livestock can be killed more quickly. It remained unclear how many animals this could affect per year. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) said that it would be dubious to give a figure at this stage.
Most wolf packs live in Brandenburg (52), followed by Lower Saxony (39) and Saxony (38).
According to Brandenburg's Environment Minister Vogel, a working group of the six federal states concerned is to draw up proposals for the concrete form of the new regulation. One change is that, unlike previously, a DNA analysis does not have to be waited for before shooting.
In addition, the federal states will have to define areas with an increased incidence of deer predation. In these regions, it should be possible to obtain a shooting permit as soon as the reasonable herd protection has been overcome for the first time and grazing animals have been killed. This should be valid for a period of 21 days after the incident. Shooting should be possible within a radius of up to 1000 meters around the affected pasture.
The Ministry of the Environment in Brandenburg and the State Office for the Environment are now working on the implementation of the regulations, which will then be discussed with the land user and nature conservation associations.
The state farmers' association criticized the proposed regulation and continues to insist that the wolf be included in hunting law. "The waiver of genetic identification is a tiny screw that has been loosened," said Jens Schreinicke, the wolf representative of the state farmers' association. There are still strict local and temporal restrictions that make it difficult to shoot wolves that cause damage.
"We are not regulating the constantly growing wolf population in Brandenburg in this way," said Schreinicke. Livestock grazing will continue to decline. The hunting association is also calling for a targeted reduction in wolf numbers.
The revised wolf ordinance, discussed at the Conference of Environment Ministers, could lead to changes in science-led animal management strategies in affected areas. For instance, future conferences might focus on exploring alternative methods to reduce wolf-grazing animal conflicts in agriculture and environmental conservation.
In relation to the discussion on revising wolf regulations, many believe that scientific research should also consider the impact of human activities on animal populations, including agriculture, to promote a sustainable balance between wildlife and the environment.
Source: www.dpa.com
