Animals
Fewer and fewer rheas to be seen in the north
Wild rheas run through a rye field in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in search of food. Photo
© Jens Büttner/dpa
A few years ago they were considered a nuisance. Now anyone who spots a rhea in the wild in the north can consider themselves lucky.
Five times more sightings than five years ago
After evaluating this year’s spring census, the Ministry of Agriculture reported 70 specimens of the flightless large birds, which resemble small ostriches. A year ago, there were 91, according to a ministry spokesperson.
In spring 2022, the Nandu Monitoring Working Group, farmers and employees of the Schaalsee-Elbe Biosphere Reserve Office had recorded 131 rheas in the distribution area, compared to 362 in spring 2019.
Rheas are descendants of enclosure escapees
The rheas are descended from a handful of animals that escaped from a private enclosure near Groß Grönau in Schleswig-Holstein between 1999 and 2001. The town is located north of Lake Ratzenburger See.
Rheas (Rhea americana) have no natural enemies in the north. They survive the winters without any problems and find plenty of food in the fields. They prefer to eat young rapeseed plants. The birds became increasingly numerous for a while – as the population grew, the anger of local farmers grew, and they complained about sometimes significant crop losses.
After various largely unsuccessful attempts at birth control, such as drilling eggs, the large ratites were released for hunting in 2020. Since then, sightings have been decreasing.
Experts believe that there are actually fewer animals. However, due to hunting, the animals have also become more shy and appear less often.