In the future, according to proposals from Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, a wolf that attacks livestock could potentially be shot within a thousand meters of the attack site for 21 days. This approach is founded on scientific findings indicating that wolves are highly likely to return to the attack site during this period, improving the chances of hitting the responsible animal.
However, several criteria must be met for this method to be applied. Firstly, a shooting permit is still required. Secondly, the wolf must be in an area with a history of increased predation incidents. Lastly, the wolf must not have adhered to "reasonable herd protection measures" and must have killed grazing animals. A DNA test will be conducted post-shooting to confirm whether the right wolf was targeted, as explained by Steffi Lemke.
Lemke acknowledged that the rules may not always result in shooting the specific wolf responsible for the attack. Nevertheless, she assured that a DNA test would be carried out to retroactively identify the animal. Lemke insisted that these measures comply with EU law, and her proposals have garnered support from various federal states.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Environment Minister, Oliver Krischer (Greens), sees this as a significant breakthrough, essential for removing individual problem wolves through a more practical and legally secure procedure. Several federal states, including Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Brandenburg, aim to establish a uniform wolf management ordinance across all federal states.
The regions with an increased incidence of predation will be determined by the federal states themselves, taking into account regional differences and special features. For instance, Bavaria, which had voiced criticism of previous plans, viewed population management for wolves as a minor topic at the conference.
Farmers and farming organizations, however, have expressed dissatisfaction with the measures, claiming they will not effectively control the exponential growth of the wolf population. Jens Schreinicke, Brandenburg's wolf representative for farmers, argued that the proposal's minor relaxation of genetic identification would not significantly impact the regulation of problem wolves in Brandenburg.
Criticism from the farming community was echoed by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Anja Weisgerber, a CSU environmental politician, stated that the measures were ignoring the real problem: the ever-increasing wolf population in Germany, which is making it increasingly difficult to raise livestock in the affected regions.
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