Wolf-Land Bayern: At least 26 animals live in the Free State – to the annoyance of many farmers
Created: 01/16/2023 10:39 am
By: Thomas Eldersch
More and more wolves are native to Bavaria.
© Armin Weigel/dpa/symbol image
The wolf population in Bavaria is increasing.
More and more animals and even some packs have settled in the Free State.
This often leads to problems with farmers.
Munich - Again and again he is spotted on Bavaria's streets: the wolf.
For some it is a problem animal, for others a wild animal worthy of protection.
As you can see, the population is increasing in the Free State.
So confrontations with the pack animal are likely to become more frequent.
And attacks on grazing animals could also increase.
Three packs of wolves in Bavaria – and the trend is rising
Bavaria regularly checks and monitors how many wolves are now native.
In a so-called monitoring year - from May 1st to April 30th of the following year - sightings of the animals are collected and the population determined.
According to the State Office for the Environment (LfU) in Augsburg, there were three packs in the 2021/22 monitoring year.
Eight animals live in the Veldenstein Forest, on the border between Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate.
There are six wolves in the Manteler Forest in the Upper Palatinate district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab.
Six wolves also belong to a pack in the Bavarian Forest on the border with the Czech Republic.
Smaller groups of the animals live, for example, at the Grafenwöhr military training area in the Upper Palatinate or in Wildflecken in Lower Franconia.
A pair of wolves has been sighted here.
Individual animals have already been discovered in the Allgäu Alps, in the Rhön on the border with Thuringia and in the Altmühltal.
It is possible, however, that the wolf lady from the Altmühltal is no longer alone.
In the fall of 2022, a male animal was increasingly photographed in the area.
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Video: Wolves are repeatedly filmed by dashcams
Attacks by wolves on humans are very unlikely
It has been known since 2006 that there are wolves in Bavaria again.
At that time, an animal was run over near Starnberg in Upper Bavaria.
It seemed to have come from a pack in the Nice area of France.
Since 2016 it has been clear that the first couples have settled in Bavaria.
There have been no attacks on humans to date.
It also seems highly unlikely that this will happen, as the wolf is considered to be very shy of humans.
At the beginning of 2022, a wolf made headlines in Upper Bavaria, killing or injuring sheep, goats and wild animals near a settlement and then being released for shooting by the Upper Bavarian government.
Environmental groups sharply criticized the measure at the time.
According to the LfU, the animal with the genetic code GW2425m was not shot, rather it was found run over in the Czech Republic - on the very day on which the shooting clearance was given.
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Farmers receive compensation payments for killed animals
The decision by the state government in autumn 2022 to designate the first of around 1,400 alpine pastures and alps in Bavaria as “unreasonably protectable” also met with clear criticism from nature conservationists.
For grazers in registered wolf areas, this means that they can receive compensation payments if a wolf attacks their livestock even if they have not taken any herd protection measures in view of the alpine conditions.
Herd protection measures are subsidized by the state in designated wolf areas.
Last year, the Free State spent around five million euros on wolf-repellent measures - especially fences - the LfU said.
Livestock protection dogs can also be used, for example.
(phone with dpa)
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