Wolf must not be killed in the Hanover region

Court ruling - Wolf must not be killed in the Hanover region

The wolf from the Hanover region that killed the pony of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, among others, may not be shot. The Administrative Court has overturned a second shooting permit for the wolf issued by the Hanover region. With its decision on Tuesday, the court upheld the urgent appeal of an environmental organization that had taken action against the so-called removal, as the Administrative Court in Hanover announced on Wednesday. The Hanover region subsequently withdrew the exemption and announced that it would wait for a new regulation on the shooting of problematic wolves.

The court no longer believed that the wolf with the identification GW950M could kill other grazing animals in the future. This is because in the twelve months prior to the exceptional shooting permit issued on October 4, only two kills were attributed to the wolf - most recently in January 2023. According to the court, there was therefore a lack of "sufficient evidence" for the damage forecast made by the Hannover region for the shooting. The fact that there were no more kills attributed to this wolf indicates, in the court's view, that the animal was most recently feeding on wild animals.

The Administrative Court had ruled differently in January 2023 when it first granted an exemption to shoot the wolf from the Burgdorf pack. Although the cull was initially postponed due to an urgent application, the court then approved the cull after all. However, the shooting permit expired just a few hours after the court's decision. This led to the new permit, which has now been challenged.

In the new decision, the court also emphasized that wolf-repellent fences were a "reasonable alternative" to killing the animal. However, the wolf had recently climbed over an electric fence around 100 centimetres high to take a bite. An appeal against the decision can still be lodged with the Higher Administrative Court.

Following the decision, however, the Hannover Region announced that it wanted to avoid a lengthy legal dispute over the permit, which is valid until February 29, 2024. The Lower Nature Conservation Authority therefore decided to withdraw the exemption - instead, the authority is now relying on an agreed new regulation.

Last week, the federal and state environment ministers agreed that problematic wolves that have climbed over protective fences and killed livestock can be killed more quickly in Germany in future. According to the agreement, the federal states are to define certain regions with an increased number of wolf killings. Unlike in the past, however, it will not be necessary to wait for a DNA analysis before shooting a wolf that has breached protective fences and killed livestock.

"The court decision shows that the legal basis for the culling of wolves urgently needs to be improved," said Regional President Steffen Krach in a statement. "Currently, the lower nature conservation authorities invest a lot of time and effort in complex exemptions that are ultimately not legally secure and cannot be enforced despite all the consideration."

The Hannover Region is one of the regions in Lower Saxony most affected by wolf predation. "We will therefore use all newly created opportunities to hunt wolves more quickly in justified individual cases in future and continue to advocate regional population management," said Krach.

Communication from the administrative court Communication from the Hannover Region