Cunning grazers
“Where wolves kill sheep, we have to shoot them”: Federal Minister Lemke wants to make shooting easier
A young wolf in Lower Saxony
© Julian Stratenschulte / DPA
Farmers have long complained that wolves are attacking their grazing animals. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke is now proposing to simplify the shooting of wolves – at least under certain conditions.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke wants to enable faster shooting of individual wolves in Germany. This is how the Green politician wants to react to the increasing number of cases of sheep and grazing animals being killed. “Where wolves kill sheep, (…) we have to shoot these wolves because they have learned that you can make easy prey there,” said Lemke on Thursday in Berlin. However, shooting wolves without a reason should not continue, said Lemke. Criticism came from farmers’ associations and unions, and praise from environmental associations.
Specifically, Lemke’s proposal stipulates that the federal states designate certain regions with an increased number of attacks by wolves. If a wolf has overcome reasonable protective measures such as a fence and killed a grazing animal, it should be allowed to shoot at it for 21 days with an exception – within a radius of 1,000 meters from the pasture. Unlike before, it will not be necessary to wait for a DNA analysis to clearly identify the wolf.
The way to shoot wolves
A shooting permit should be available within a few days, said Lemke. A crack expert should determine whether it is actually a wolf crack and whether there is herd protection. To justify the planned 21-day deadline, Lemke referred to studies from Sweden, according to which the risk of a new attack in a close area following a crack is particularly high. A DNA analysis should be carried out further – in order to check afterwards whether the right wolf was hit.
According to the Lemke Ministry, the new rules will be implemented through a decision by the Conference of Environment Ministers in November. The states can then implement the shooting rules with or without their own legal regulations. The aim is for them to take effect at the beginning of the new year. Lemke emphasized that this is a practical and uncomplicated path without national or European legal changes.
Previous problems dealing with wolves
Germany is obliged under national and European law to strictly protect wild wolves. According to the federal documentation and advisory center on wolves (DBBW), more than 4,000 farm animals were killed or injured by wolves in 2022 – the number increased significantly in a long-term comparison. In 2015 there were only more than 500. This has led to great frustration and the acceptance of the protected wolf is in danger, said Lemke.
So far, genetic tests based on traces of cracks and erosion have been considered necessary in order to make a kill possible. But this takes too long and is too complicated, says Lemke. With the permission of the authorities, the number of animals killed remained low. According to the DBBW, only two wolves were recently killed in a controlled manner within a year. 125 died in traffic accidents. Eleven animals were killed illegally.
184 wolf packs in Germany
In recent years, wolves have become more and more widespread – Lemke spoke of a “success in species protection”. According to DBBW 2022/2023, there were 184 wolf packs, 47 wolf pairs and 22 sedentary individual wolves in Germany – a total of “1,339 wolf individuals”. Most wolf families live in Brandenburg (52), Lower Saxony (39) and Saxony (38). Wolves have also been detected in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. According to the nature conservation association NABU, there is no “excessive (…) growth in the wolf population in Germany”. The associations of farmers, hunters and riders criticized the figures for trivializing the development: “According to this, there are currently 2,000 to 3,000 wolves in Germany.”
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Criticism of the proposals
For the farmers’ association, Lemke’s suggestions are “completely inadequate.” “With such placebo solutions, grazing livestock farming continues to be sacrificed to a misguided and quixotic wolf policy,” said Secretary General Bernhard Krüsken. For months, the associations of farmers, hunters, sheep breeders and riders have not only been insisting on the rapid “removal of predatory wolves up to entire packs” to protect sheep, goats, horses, cattle and wild animals. General management of the wolf population is necessary. We are talking, for example, about annual killing quotas or wolf-free zones.
The Union agricultural expert Albert Stegemann (CDU) criticized: “Minister Lemke continues to shirk her responsibility.” It should create the conditions so that wolves can be hunted before wolf damage occurs.
Praise from environmental associations and Greens
The environmental protection organization WWF Germany praised the often heated debate: “With her push for the future treatment of wolves, Federal Environment Minister Lemke can become a bridge builder.” NABU President Jörg-Andreas Krüger said: “The vast majority of wolves respect herd protection measures.” For the “few cases” in which grazing animals are still killed, Lemke’s suggestions make sense.
German Environmental Aid spoke of a “practical, scientifically sound and quickly implementable solution”. The Green MP Harald Ebner praised that the proposals would make it possible to quickly shoot down wolves that were causing problems. In order to prevent cracks by protecting the herds, the federal states must also expand the support and advice of those who keep grazing animals, Ebner told the German Press Agency.