Meeting of Environment Ministers: How to deal with wolves like Gloria?

She-wolf Gloria repeatedly kills farm animals on the Lower Rhine. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia now wants to authorize a shooting. The case is also likely to concern the autumn conference of the environment ministers.

Benedikt Hüttemann has invested a lot of money to protect his flock of sheep: the new fence is 1.20 meters high and secured with 4,000 volts. It cost 4,500 euros, but it didn’t bring much. A little later, four sheep were dead. “The sight of the dead animals, the images, I still have in my mind. You can’t get rid of that so quickly,” he reports. “I put up the fence at the beginning of October. It was funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. I got advice beforehand about which measures would be most effective. And it was exactly three weeks in which it offered protection. And then the first cracks appeared there.”

DNA evidence provided certainty: it was the she-wolf Gloria. Her official name is GW954f. It is causing mischief around the community of Uedem-Keppeln. The she-wolf and her offspring have already killed numerous sheep, deer and a pony. Gloria has overcome such fences six times in four weeks, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Environment and now wants to draw conclusions. “Against this background, further significant economic damage is to be expected from this animal,” it said in a statement. Together with the Wesel district, they are now considering killing the she-wolf.

Shooting “problem wolves” should be made easier

In mid-October, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) presented proposals to make it easier to shoot so-called problem wolves. The approval should be available more quickly and the results of a DNA test will then no longer play a role. There are major challenges and problems with wolves in Germany, said Lemke. The wolf population is growing, more wolves are also killing more grazing animals. Wolves could be killed after an approval process. However, the process leading up to approval is too long and bureaucratic, which leads to frustration among people who keep grazing animals.

In principle, wolves are strictly protected. In the case of Gloria, the Wesel district administration is responsible for an exemption under the Federal Nature Conservation Act. There will be no quick decision – rather, a so-called removal of the she-wolf from the pack will be examined closely. “This will be done with the necessary thoroughness because the Wesel district is aware of the scope of the review as well as the high probability that a possible decision will be reviewed by the courts,” writes district spokeswoman Anja Schulte. The district is expecting lawsuits from conservationists if the shooting of Gloria is approved.

Animal rights activists protest

They are already mobilizing. Almost 40,000 people have signed an online petition against the “removal”. The reason: The she-wolf plays an important role in the diversity and reproduction of her pack.

This is exactly where Martin Tiemann sees the problem. Tiemann is second chairman of the district shepherds in the Kleve district and in the Lower Rhine district of the NRW sheep breeding association, responsible for dealing with wolves. He fears that Gloria will pass on her knowledge to her offspring, thereby making the problem even worse. “No shepherd says we have to exterminate all wolves. But the problem animals have to be removed,” demands Tiemann. You have no chance against the pack. “If we were to select 20 problems from the approximately 3,000 wolves in Germany, we would still have 2,980 wolves, but significantly fewer problems,” he calculates.

Shooting will not solve the problem

The problem with Gloria is not new. The she-wolf has been roaming the area for a good five years. So far, animal rights activists have successfully defended themselves against shooting. The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), the State Association for Nature Conservation and Environment (LNU) and the Nature Conservation Association Germany (NABU) point out the strict protection of species in a joint statement. “Europe like Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia must do their part to ensure that the wolf population achieves a favorable conservation status,” the statement says.

“In addition, shooting suggests a solution that will not last. Once wolf territories have been occupied, they will be reoccupied by other wolves. If the herd protection is inadequate, these will also learn to see grazing animals as prey. Here, the animal owners have a duty to use the resources provided by the state and to protect their animals from wolves,” said the animal rights activists.

Birgit Königs from NABU fears that if Gloria is hunted, other wolves could also be harmed. Similar cases from Lower Saxony have already shown this. “It’s assumed that it’s Gloria, shot. And then afterwards you find out genetically: ‘Oh, too bad it was the wrong wolf.’ This has happened seven times in Lower Saxony and the actual wolf that they wanted to kill has still not been caught,” said Königs. This could put the entire pack on the Lower Rhine in danger.

Whole pack causes problems

Shepherd Martin Tiemann replies that there are no innocent wolves in the Schermbeck wolf area. Because the whole pack causes problems. He does not want to accept the accusation that the shepherds do not do enough to protect their own animals. “They are all welcome to come to me and pick up the dead animals from the meadow. Then they will see that the animals cannot be protected,” says Tiemann. “We cannot convert the pasture into a high-security area.”

But Martin Tiemann doesn’t initially believe that the she-wolf will be shot. The resistance is simply too great: “The she-wolf has been there since 2018, she has been conspicuous since day one. Now it is 2023 and nothing has happened.” The shepherd is sure that before the decision to shoot her is made, Gloria will have already died of natural causes.