Wolf killed von der Leyen's pony - male has already torn several livestock

Created: 06/12/2022, 17:42

By: Markus Hofstetter

A pony belonging to EU Commission President von der Leyen was killed in an attack.

Now it is clear that a wolf is behind it.

Burgdorf - At the beginning of September, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen received sad news.

The pony Dolly was found dead just a few hundred meters from the family home.

Even then it was speculated that a wolf could have killed the 30-year-old animal.

Another pony standing next to it remained unharmed.

Killed by the Leyens Pony: Genetic analysis confirms Wolf as the perpetrator

After about three months, it is now clear that Dolly was actually the victim of a wolf.

According to a spokesman for the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment in Hanover, this was confirmed by genetic tests.

This is the wolf with the identifier GW950m.

Dolly was not the first victim of the male, who belongs to the Burgdorf pack.

Several farm animals such as sheep, cattle and horses have already been torn by the wolf. 

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In a letter to the EPP group in the European Parliament last week, Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that the Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive (FFH) gives Member States scope to react to growing wolf populations.

The background is an initiative by the EPP group in the European Parliament to limit the number of wolves in Europe.

Because the people in certain rural regions in Germany no longer felt safe.

Wolves are losing their natural fear of humans more and more often and dare to approach settlements.

Wolf population in Lower Saxony: by 2030 there could be 1000 animals

So far, the wolf, which has been spreading from Eastern Europe to Germany for several years, has been considered a strictly protected animal.

At the end of the third quarter of 2022, 44 wolf packs and five resident solitary wolves lived in 49 wolf territories in Lower Saxony.

In total there should be about 350 wolves.

According to a study, the population is expected to increase to 1000 animals by 2030.

According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), there are currently 161 wolf packs in Germany.

This corresponds to an increase of three packs compared to the previous monitoring period.

As the population grows, incidents are becoming more frequent, fueling debates about wolves and increasing calls to kill them.