Problem wolves in Germany may be able to be shot more quickly. This week, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke presented new regulations to the German states. Those states will continue discussing the proposal next month.
The wolf is protected at European level and may therefore not simply be chased away or shot, but according to Lemke the new rule falls within current EU legislation. The minister wants a problem wolf to be killed within a radius of one kilometer around the pasture for 21 days. There is no need to wait for DNA results, says Minister Lemke.
If the wolf has been shot, DNA will be taken to see if it is indeed the problem wolf. But according to the German ministry, that chance is high, because a wolf tries to strike more often in the same herd.
Just as in Drenthe and other places in the Netherlands, emotions regularly run high in debates about the wolf in Germany. Livestock farmers have long wanted the wolf’s protected status to be changed, but conservationists have not.
In July, a wolf was shot dead in Wapse on the orders of the municipality of Westerveld, after the animal bit a sheep farmer who tried to chase him away with a shovel. Several animal organizations then filed a complaint against those involved.