When rivers and streams overflow their banks, as was the case recently in Franconia and in Berchtesgadener Land, the animal world is also badly hit. “In fact, some animals simply drown in a flood,” said the biologist Andreas von Lindeiner from the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV). Not only rural dwellers, birds and fish are also affected. According to this, little mobile insect and beetle species are particularly affected in the bank area. “There is guaranteed not to survive much in the areas,” said von Lindeiner. Animals such as rabbits, foxes or deer, on the other hand, are not in such areas anyway and could easily flee in the event of a flood. Moles or the offspring of mouse species would often drown if the water suddenly rose. Adult mice can swim and save themselves on land, but there they are defenseless against predators. Birds, in turn, can get into trouble when they feed on insects that are washed away. For example, the kingfisher has a hard time finding food in murky water. “But that’s just nature,” stated von Lindeiner.
For other animals, the floods can even be an opportunity: Green toads, for example, benefit from newly created “pioneering locations”, while fish such as noses, barbels and brown trout enjoy the cleaned gravel bottoms of waters in which they lay their eggs. “It is not the case that floods are deadly in biology, but part of the dynamic and even life-giving for some fish species,” said Johannes Schnell from the Bavarian State Fisheries Association. “The problem is that humans have changed the water in such a way that the consequences are no longer natural.” Fish like to look for calm areas to save energy. They can get “over land” and get trapped in depressions when the water drains away. If they are not reset, they will be found food for others or they will die if the oxygen levels in the water decrease. According to the water management office, there is little oxygen in the Altmühl, Aisch and Franconian Rezat rivers that have recently overflowed their banks. This has already resulted in fish deaths and it could continue for a certain time, the office said.