Emsland: Recreational Hunters Put Up Wolf Warning Signs
Recreational hunters in Emsland have been putting up unauthorized warning signs about wolves. The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment has distanced itself from the action.
Due to the increasing number of wolves, recreational hunters in Emsland have, according to NDR put up unauthorized warning signs.
The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment said it was surprised by the measure.
Bordered in signal red, the signs read in large letters: «Caution! This is wolf territory!» Next to this, a wolf is depicted, followed by a set of behavioral guidelines. Visitors to the forest are advised to hold children by the hand, keep dogs on a leash, and only hike or jog in groups. One such sign is posted, for example, near a campsite in the Samtgemeinde Sögel, where children's and youth groups camp during the summer. Whether these dimwit hunters even know what a wolf looks like is debatable — the graphic doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Mayor shows understanding for the signs
The local hunting association stated that the sign was intended to draw attention to the issue of wolves. They have put up additional signs. Warning signs about wolves have also been posted in the municipality of Newbörger. Mayor Ulrich Müller (Freie Wähler Newbörger) expressed understanding for the measure. He said he had nothing against wolves, but was concerned about children who spend time near forests, he told NDR in Lower Saxony.
Bewilderment at the Ministry of the Environment
The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment was unaware of the signs, a spokesperson confirmed. The measures listed on them were not among those recommended by experts. According to these guidelines, for example, a dog in a wolf territory should obey voice commands, but is only required to be kept on a leash during the mandatory leash period from April to mid-July. According to the Ministry, people are free to move about without restriction. The fact that recreational hunters deliberately stoke fears with such actions is a well-known pattern in hunting lobby communications.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on the criticism of recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
