For the first time, Lower Saxony is planning to allow a wolf to be released for shooting using a new rapid procedure. After a cow was killed in the Hanover region last weekend, a corresponding exemption for the shooting is now to be drawn up and will come into force on Tuesday, as the Environment Ministry in Hanover announced.
“In order to maintain acceptance for wolves, we must act quickly to protect grazing animals in individual cases where wolves repeatedly cause problems,” said State Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens). According to the ministry in Hanover, Lower Saxony is the first federal state to implement extraction using the new rapid release procedure.
The federal and state department heads agreed last December that, unlike before, it would not be necessary to wait for a DNA analysis to shoot problematic wolves. These quick kills are possible in areas with an increased number of cracks if a wolf has overcome the herd protection and killed a farm animal. The shooting permit is then valid for 21 days after the tear and within a radius of up to 1000 meters from the affected pasture.
Wolves are under strict nature protection and may only be shot under strict conditions with an official special permit.
The Ministry of the Environment announced that the crack in the Hanover region was “with reasonable certainty” caused by a wolf. Accordingly, cattle have been killed in the area several times since 2023. “The current crack would be the fifth crack within nine months, which means that, from the country’s perspective, the criteria for a quick kill are met,” the ministry said. The now torn cattle were part of a herd of around 30 adult Heck cattle and a young bull.
