They exist, but you rarely see them. According to the latest figures, 184 wolf packs roam the country, most of them in East Germany. If there are traces of them to be seen, it is usually in the form of torn grazing animals. Which is why the return of the long-extinct wolf to Germany is particularly upsetting for farmers and grazing livestock owners. In any case, peaceful coexistence looks different. And it could become even less peaceful. The federal and state environment ministers agreed on new rules for dealing with wolves at a conference in Münster on Friday. After that it will be easier to shoot wolves; at least in areas where they more often prey on grazing animals.
If protective fences are overcome and an animal is killed, wolves can be shot within a radius of 1,000 meters for 21 days. The states determine exactly which areas this applies to. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) made the proposal for this regulation, and she herself spoke of it as a great success. “These quick launches are unbureaucratic and can be implemented in a practical manner,” said Lemke after the conference.
The EU Commission apparently agrees
It has already been legally possible to shoot “individual members” of a pack “in close temporal and spatial context” with a crack. But the authorities regulated the details in a “practical guide” with German thoroughness: First, a DNA test was supposed to ensure that the right wolf was actually being hunted – and only for that one was there a permit to be shot. But this only applied to the respective district or federal state. The guide is now being changed. The laws, on the other hand, can remain as they are.
The EU Commission, which has a say in nature conservation, also apparently agrees. In a letter that the South German newspaper exists, it sees no conflict with European nature conservation requirements. The regulation appears “appropriate and effective,” according to a letter from the responsible General Directorate for the Environment to the Federal Environment Ministry.
Only the pasture owners are still dissatisfied: They are demanding upper limits for the number of these “predators” and are also calling for targeted hunting of wolves in particularly affected regions. However, the number of packs is only growing slowly, and they have long had a mortal enemy: the car.