wolf or dog?

Video of taxi drivers in Upper Bavaria continues to cause guesswork

Created: 11/29/2022, 8:00 p.m

By: Sebastian Grauvogl

Often reported, rarely proven: sightings of wolves in the wild often remain unconfirmed.

This picture shows one in an enclosure in Saxony-Anhalt.

© DPA

Was it a wolf or not?

This is the question on everyone's mind who has seen the video of an animal on the B307 taken from a taxi.

That's what experts and residents say.

Aurach/Neuhaus

– A wolf on the Wölflhof?

Concerned guests keep asking the team at the inn just before the northern end of Auracher which animal is strolling around in the yard.

Ober Philippe Tschöp can then quickly calm down: Husky Vladi has had his home here for a few months.

And even if he sometimes explores the area curiously: "He's not interested in sheep," says Tschöp with a smile.

However, the waiter thinks it is quite possible that Vladi can be mistaken for a wolf quickly and especially in the dark.

With correspondingly great interest, he watched the video that was made on Saturday evening on the B307 between Aurach and Neuhaus from a taxi (we reported).

Tschöp's answer: "It's definitely not our dog."

On the one hand, Vladi would not “go donate” for longer than ten minutes.

However, the picture was taken shortly before the turnoff to Spitzingstrasse – far away from the Wölflhof.

"We already have our dog in mind," assures the waiter.

In addition, he would recognize the husky immediately by the gait.

And so Tschöp considers the assumption of the taxi driver to be obvious: "It could have been a wolf."

That's what the wolf experts at the LFU say

Assumptions alone are not enough for the State Office for the Environment (LfU).

Experts from the Center for Large Carnivores analyze the appearance of the animals very carefully during such sightings and compare it with the characteristics typical of wolves, explains a spokesman.

However, the present video sequence is "short and unclear", which makes a clear assignment very difficult.

Nevertheless, one could say that the wolf characteristics mentioned are not recognizable.

"In this case, it is an unconfirmed reference," said the LfU.

Most reports remain unconfirmed

Incidentally, this applies to the vast majority of reports received by the office.

In the current monitoring year (since May 2022), between 40 and 50 tips have been received per month, the spokesman reports.

These include, among other things, sightings, images, videos, tear events of wild or farm animals, droppings or dead finds.

After consultation with the reporter and taking into account the place and time of observation, the information would be evaluated according to the SCALP (Status and Conservation of the Alpine Lynx Population) criteria, which are uniform throughout Europe.

All in all, the LfU has confirmed 43 individual proofs in the current year.

There is no sighting in the district of Miesbach this year.

The last tip confirmed by the LfU dates from April 2021, when a driver filmed a wolf at Seehamer See.

In Aurach and Neuhaus, on the other hand, the guesswork continues for the time being.

so called