Germany: Rise in illegal wolf killings is alarming

In light of the new official figures on wolf population trends in wolves in Germany, NABU describes the increasing number of illegal wolf killings as alarming. This year alone, eight wolves have already been found dead with gunshot wounds. Since 2000, a total of 35 animals have been illegally shot across the country. The number of unreported cases is in all likelihood much higher.

«Illegal killings of wolves are no trivial offence and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Those responsible must be held accountable,» says NABU Federal Executive Director Leif Miller. Alongside the threat of poaching, road traffic is the greatest danger for many wolves: this year alone, 50 wolves were killed in road accidents.

73 packs, 30 pairs, three individual animals

73 packs, 30 pairs and three territorial individual animals – these are the official population figures for the 2017/18 monitoring year presented by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).

«This territorial growth of around 27 percent is entirely normal from a biological perspective for the development of the wolf population. Nevertheless, the population has not yet reached a favourable conservation status,» says NABU wolf expert Marie Neuwald.

Hunting is not herd protection

NABU criticises representatives from politics and agriculture, as well as parts of the hunting lobby, who repeatedly call for wolves to be hunted. «Shooting quotas for wolves will not help a single grazing animal as long as the herd is not protected as wolf-proof as possible. Hunting is not herd protection,» says Neuwald.

Good and workable livestock protection remains the be-all and end-all and must be supported accordingly — there is no way around it.

NABU

In seven German federal states, wolves are territorially established; in all other territorial states except Saarland, passing wolves have been documented. More on wildlife and on biodiversity.