Beaver actually poisoned - animal protection association reports

Created: 12/21/2022, 07:00

By: Gerti Reichl

Now it is clear: such a stately beaver was poisoned near Gmund.

© dpa

Eight weeks after an injured beaver was found near Gmund and had to be put out of its suffering by a coup de grace, it is now clear: the animal was poisoned.

The animal protection association Tegernseer Tal has filed a criminal complaint.

Gmund – Johanna Ecker-Schotte, chairwoman of the Tegernseer Tal animal protection association, is shocked: The beaver, who was found injured on the shore between the Mangfallsteg and the Kaltenbrunn lido at the end of October and ultimately had to be put out of his suffering with an officially approved coup de grace, is real been poisoned.

This was the result of a toxicological study at the veterinary faculty of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

Biber near Gmund: residues of the anesthetic pentobarbital found

The corresponding report, which Johanna Ecker-Schotte has, states that residues of the anesthetic pentobarbital were found.

"And that is subject to documentation and can usually only be administered or dispensed by a veterinarian," says the chairwoman, who was involved in the case from the start.

"As soon as I was informed by the Bad Wiessee police that the beaver had been found, after consulting with the beaver officer Max Wolf, my suspicion that the animal could have been poisoned was confirmed," says Ecker-Schotte.

She does not let the case rest and has filed a criminal complaint – namely for several offenses: for willfully accepting the suffering of an animal;

because of the administration of an anesthetic, which as a rule may only be administered or dispensed by a veterinarian;

for attempted killing of the beaver, which is subject to the Federal Nature Conservation Act and is strictly protected;

because of attempted killing of a beaver, which is anchored in international law as a "protected animal species" in the Bern Convention in the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Guidelines and for the preservation of which protected areas must be designated.

Beaver autopsy brings sad certainty: green fodder or fruit was provided with anesthetic

Based on the autopsy findings, Ecker-Schotte assumes that the beaver, which weighs a good 23 kilos, was fed green fodder and possibly pieces of apple or leftover fruit that were prepared with pentobarbital.

"In any case, the animal's stomach was well filled, even with the pieces of apple or fruit," says Ecker-Schotte.

"We are speechless about the perfidious methods used to try to illegally eliminate a protected animal," says the chairwoman on behalf of the animal welfare association, pointing out that the beaver can even be removed upon application if common solutions are not possible or unreasonable .

"All of this was deliberately and criminally disregarded here," protests Ecker-Schotte.

As the district office reports when asked, the public prosecutor's office and the police, as investigative authorities, have now taken over the case.

"The only thing left for us to do is wait for the investigations to begin," says spokeswoman Sabine Kirchmair.

The district office, and here the beaver manager Michael Vermeulen, is in close contact with the animal protection association and Johanna Ecker-Schotte.

Beaver poisoned near Gmund: Not an isolated case

The question remains whether the determination of the perpetrator can be expected at all.

“The administered drug is used in veterinary medicine in Germany, requires documentation and cannot be sold over the counter,” says Kirchmair.

"This could already limit the circle of perpetrators." At least the suspicion is reasonable that the perpetrators are people who have medical knowledge and access to the drug.

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It also doesn't seem to be an isolated case.

According to the district office, a beaver was hunted down on Lake Tegernsee as early as 2021 - at that time with rat poison.

You can read more information about the region here.

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