A seemingly orphaned fawn that is handed over to the police. A severed animal skull. In Bad Wiessee, two finds in the mountain forest are causing guesswork.
Bad Wiessee – Two mysterious discoveries in the Wiessee mountain forest are currently occupying the police and animal welfare association: A hiker had already found an apparently orphaned and injured fawn at the end of May – apparently close to the edge of the Zeiselbach forest – and brought it to the Bad Wiessee police. The little roebuck is now being nursed up in a foster home in Fügen, Austria, as Johanna Ecker-Schotte from the Tegernsee Valley Animal Welfare Association reports. Meanwhile, where the mother has gone is causing guesswork. Because the severed skull of another wild animal lay very close to the fawn, it was initially assumed that the deer was dead. A mistake, as it turned out a few days later: The head comes from a male red deer, a so-called narrow philistine.
Animal rights activist has brought fawn to foster home in Austria
For the Rottach animal rights activist Ecker-Schotte, the Wiessee case is highly mysterious. She had been notified by the police on May 28 and had then organized a foster home for the little fawn. Because all the places in the region were occupied, she drove the animal – which, according to Ecker-Schotte, was "at the limit of survivability" – to Fügen in the Zillertal. There, the condition of the little "Seppi" has now stabilized through professional care, says the Rottacher.
+The severed skull of a narrow-spit was discovered near the fawn.
© Animal Welfare Association
Skull of the narrow-skewer was apparently expertly severed
However, she is worried about the animal's head, which was found nearby and seized by the police. "The skull was obviously expertly severed by a hunter-savvy person. The tongue was also cut out," reports Ecker-Schotte. During the inspection of the skull, it turned out that it was a so-called narrow spit (male red deer in the second year of life), for which the closed season applies until May 31. "There are many question marks," Ecker-Schotte sums up. Was the fawn's mother shot? And: What is the severed skull all about? "We hereby denounce two violations," says the animal rights activist: on the one hand, a violation of maternal animal welfare, and on the other hand, a closed season offense. Ecker-Schotte is convinced that the respective sites are forests of the Bavarian State Forests.
Area manager describes the taking of fawns as poaching
However, in the eyes of Hannes Deininger, head of the district in Bad Wiessee, which belongs to the state forests, this has not yet been completely clarified. There are currently contradictory statements about the sites, says Deininger when asked. We have to wait until this can be clarified by the local police. Only then could further steps be taken by the forestry company.
For Deininger, however, one thing is already certain: The woman who took the fawn did not act correctly. "What the woman has done is nothing more than poaching," the district manager makes clear. And that is a criminal offense. If the place of discovery is actually in his territory, he will file a complaint against the walker, Deininger announces. The fawn was probably laid down by the goat. At this time of year, it is completely normal for the young animals to lie around alone in the forest or in the grass for most of the day.
Where does the animal skull come from? The head of the precinct can only puzzle
As far as the skull of the narrow-spit is concerned, the district manager considers it impossible that the animal was shot during the closed season in the state forest of Bad Wiessee. There is a hunting accounting, where all shootings are documented, says Deininger. There is also no closure of the closed season in Bad Wiessee.
But where does the severed skull come from? Deininger can only make assumptions here. It is possible that someone has practiced here with his hunting dog, the district manager speculates. For this purpose, it is quite common to lay tracks with parts of red deer. "This is done regularly." Another possibility is that someone has simply disposed of a philistine head.
Initially, Ecker-Schotte also wanted to file a criminal complaint because of the possible shootings. However, since these are official offenses, she assumes that the offenses will be "prosecuted" anyway.
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