Wolf M75 escapes: shooting attempt fails

M75 has most likely already moved on, speculate St. Gallen game warden Dominik Thiel and his Appenzell Ausserrhoden colleague Heinz Nigg in the St. Galler Tagblatt.

Wolf M75 is said to have killed 55 sheep. Due to “the clear extent of the damage” and based on the federal Hunting Ordinance the four cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen, Graubünden, and Ticino had issued temporary shooting orders for the male wolf. Appenzell Innerrhoden had not participated in this action.

M75 apparently went about things quite boldly: he presumably scaled fences and, in Trun in the Graubünden Oberland, climbed through a stable door that was only 113 centimetres high at the bottom — the upper door was open. He promptly earned the label “problem wolf.” The game wardens believe M75 to be a young wolf on a roaming journey in search of a female wolf (Wild beim Wild reported). Many young wolves leave their family once they reach sexual maturity.

A restless wanderer

Wolf M75 has so far been known as a restless wanderer. Within just a few days, the wolf — first identified in Italy — covered many kilometres. The Swiss game wardens do not know where he is currently located.

Meanwhile, a wolf has also been spotted in southern Germany. It could be M75. In Switzerland, wolves are deliberately not given names, according to game wardens Dominik Thiel and Heinz Nigg. That would stir up emotions. Wolves are intentionally numbered, with M for males and W for females. In Switzerland, wild animals are nonetheless occasionally “christened” by ordinary members of the public. M75 is “Odin.” It would be pure speculation to assume this is the same wolf, says Heinz Nigg, but it is also “not entirely out of the question.”

Update 12.7.2017: Dead wolf at Schluchsee

Last Saturday, July 8, 2017, a dead wolf was recovered from Lake Schluchsee in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg. It is still unclear which wolf it is and what caused its death. Injuries were found in the chest area of the dead wolf. A CT scan in Berlin is now expected to provide clarity. First results are expected in 2 weeks.

Update 22.7.2017: Identity clarified

According to the Senckenberg Institute for Wildlife Genetics in Berlin, the animal is one of three wolf pups that were documented last year in the Lüneburg Heath near Schneverdingen in Lower Saxony. The animal was registered under the designation GW 630 M.

Update 8.8.2017: Wolf was shot

The dead wolf recovered from Lake Schluchsee on July 8 was shot. This is the conclusion reached by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, which examined the wolf on behalf of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment. The animal showed injuries in the chest area caused by a projectile that was found in the dead wolf's liver, the ministry announced. It was presumably only the fourth wolf to have visited Baden-Württemberg since the species was wiped out more than 150 years ago. With him, a total of 24 wolves have been illegally killed across Germany since the year 2000. These are no longer isolated incidents. Evidently, there are people in Germany who deliberately hunt wolves .

Petition for M75

In an online petition on the website Change.org , sheep farmer Elisabeth Barbara Sigron from Schangnau in the canton of Bern writes: «The thing is: the attacks in Graubünden and Ticino occurred at the end of January and the beginning of February. The animal was in Zurich and probably also Thurgau in February and March. Yet the Graubünden and Ticino authorities only issued the shooting permit in mid-March — by which point the animal had long since moved on.» By now, wolf M75 is almost certainly «over the hills and far away.» St. Gallen wildlife manager Dominik Thiel and his Appenzell Ausserrhoden counterpart Heinz Nigg agree on this. There have been no further wolf attacks in the four cantons.

By now, 7,673 supporters have signed the petition. The petition was addressed to 14 organizations and individuals, including Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, the group Wolf Schweiz, and WWF Switzerland. The WWF allowed the 30-day period to appeal against the shooting permit for wolf M75 to pass unused. It had therefore also been in favor of shooting the male wolf. In Switzerland, no animal welfare organizations had opposed the shooting of M75.

According to the wolf concept of the Federal Office for the Environment, the wolf is part of the fauna. Its return is occurring naturally. It is migrating back on its own.

Accusations against sheep farmers

Elisabeth Barbara Sigron keeps sheep herself and knows how to protect them. Sigron runs a farm in mountain zone 3 at an altitude of 1,140 meters. Wolf Odin is alleged to have killed 40 sheep within 19 days. "Only three, however, were actually proven," writes Sigron. Odin is being made a scapegoat for the incompetence of many sheep farmers, "whose fences even a cat could jump over — so no obstacle for a wolf." And: "There is no sign of any anti-digging protection anywhere." Odin had not demonstrably caused the minimum damage that would justify his shooting in any way, Sigron argues.

Wolf M75 was virtually unknown. Almost nothing was known about him or his background. At the same time, it remained unclear whether the herd protection measures in Ticino had been implemented in accordance with federal requirements. There was no transparency and therefore no legal basis for the shooting. Sigron argued for “in dubio pro reo” — innocent until proven guilty. German wolf advocates took up the petition and spread it in Germany.

The petition further states: “In Switzerland, there are only 25 to 30 wolves. Yet this magnificent landscape has room for more animals. Since the year 2000, 17 wolf shootings have been approved, nine of which were carried out. Conservation organizations in Switzerland are challenging these shooting permits. Just recently, a court confirmed that the shooting permit for two young wolves from the Calanda pack was unlawful. Nevertheless, new shootings continue to be approved.”

The header image above featuring wolf M75 was taken by a wildlife warden on 23 April 2017 in Flums and submitted to Wild beim Wild together with this photo.