The State Office for the Environment (LfU) has released five young wolf hybrids that are roaming around in the Bavarian-Thuringian Rhön with their mother. The authority relies on the Federal Nature Conservation Act. It stipulates that wolf hybrids – i.e. hybrids between wolves and dogs – must be taken from the wild. The background to the decision is the tearing of three sheep in the Rhön-Grabfeld district. When examining the genetic material on the three carcasses, experts not only determined the gene sequences of the she-wolf, but also of the young hybrids. The decision to shoot them down was then made. The she-wolf, whose official name is GW1422f, remains strictly protected and is not affected by the decision. She has been traveling in the Rhön for three years. It was first detected in 2019 on the Hessian side, a year later in Thuringia and in October 2021 also on the Bavarian side. Until the current sheep tears, she behaved largely inconspicuously.
This spring it became known from Thuringia that the she-wolf had apparently mated with a domestic dog. Matings between wolves and dogs in the wild are considered very rare, they only occur when the wolf or she-wolf cannot find a mate of their own kind. At the beginning of August, the she-wolf and her offspring were captured by a photo trap in Thuringia. The fur of the puppies, which were about three months old at the time, was unusually colored gray and black, which is not actually the case with wolves. The Thuringian Ministry of the Environment then involved two specialist departments. They explained that the five cubs are hybrids. In August, the decision was made in Thuringia to shoot the young animals – also with reference to the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
It is commonly said that wolf hybrids are less afraid of people, that they are more trusting than wolves because of their canine ancestors and therefore pose a greater threat. But that is not true, at least there is no evidence for it so far. According to experts, there is no evidence that wild hybrids are more likely than wolves to seek proximity to human settlements, nor that they prefer to attack sheep or other livestock. The problem is different. Species conservationists fear that uncontrolled mating of wolves and dogs could pose a long-term genetic risk to a wolf population, especially if it is comparatively small and unstable. That is why they advocate taking hybrids from the wild. If the animals are older than three months, this means they are shot because they can no longer get used to life in an enclosure.
At the LfU they are now faced with the challenge of implementing the shooting decision. To do this, they not only have to identify the preferred whereabouts of the she-wolf and her offspring. But also determine the hunters for shooting down the hybrids. The bureaucratic procedure for this is comparatively complex. For example, the hunters who are eligible to be shot must prove that they are really capable of doing so.