After the detection of the first female wolf, the debate about possible packs and the shooting of wild animals in the wild picks up speed again. The FDP demands that the uncontrolled spread of wolves in the country be prevented by targeted so-called removals. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann also expects at least “difficult and very piquant debates” on the question of whether shooting permits should be issued. In a densely populated cultural landscape, animals like wolves “simply cause problems,” which also applies to foxes and beavers, for example. “But animals tend to reproduce,” said the Green politician. “Now we have to see how we deal with it.”
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the first female wolf, a so-called female, has been genetically detected by swab samples from killed goats in Münstertal (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district). At the beginning of January, a total of seven dead goats were reported to the Forestry Research Institute (FVA) in Freiburg.
In Baden-Württemberg, three wolves are currently still considered sedentary, they are all males in the Black Forest. Two of them roam the south of the region. A wolf is considered sedentary if clear evidence can still be found after six months.
“Should the female actually be further in the region, there could be a couple formation,” said the ministry. “It would then also be possible for young animals to be born in early summer 2023 and thus for the first pack to form in the southern Black Forest.” However, it is unclear whether the animal is still in the Black Forest or has already moved on.
“Demands for the wolf to be shot or included in hunting rights are out of place and don’t help,” said Johannes Enssle, state chairman of the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu). Rather, grazing livestock farmers should continue to be supported in the implementation of herd protection.
However, from the point of view of the State Sheep Breeding Association, herd protection measures are not possible across the board. “Herd protection measures do not always provide 100 percent protection,” said Managing Director Anette Wohlfarth. “If the wolf continues to spread, it’s an existential threat to grazing.” The sheep breeders are demanding an upper limit. “Wolves that are encroaching must be removed immediately and without any bureaucratic effort.”
The female with the scientific name GW2407f is already a friend: it is registered in the transnational database at the Senckenberg Center for Wildlife Genetics. According to the ministry, she was probably born in Billenhagen (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) in 2021.
Despite the increasing number of wolves in Germany, Baden-Württemberg is still a transit country for the predator. For the coming years, however, experts from the FVA are counting on the first sedentary groups. In Germany there are already 160 wolf packs and over 40 pairs – but none of these groups live in Baden-Württemberg.
The wolf has no natural enemies and is a strictly protected species under nature protection in Germany. Shooting is prohibited unless the wolves, who are actually shy of humans, behave aggressively when they encounter humans. Then the Federal Nature Conservation Act allows a shooting – officially called “extraction”. Such a case of unprovoked aggressive wolf behavior has not occurred since 1998, according to the report.
NABU on wolves in Baden-Württemberg BfN statistics on wolves
