In the future, wolves will be easier to shoot down to protect sheep and other farm animals from the predator. Against the votes of the entire opposition, the Bundestag passed a corresponding law, which the grand coalition had agreed on after months of struggle.
639 Wolf attacks, 2067 animals were torn nationwide last year, said CDU MP Hermann Färber. "It is therefore high time that we again offer pasture owners in Germany a perspective to protect their animals."
In the future, shooting will also be possible if it is unclear which wolf attacked a flock of sheep, for example. Wolves may be shot in the area until there are no more attacks - even if an entire pack is killed.
"There will be no uncontrolled pack shooting"
Nevertheless, the environmental spokesman for the SPD faction, Carsten Träger, assured: "There will be no uncontrolled pack shooting." In fact, it is envisaged that each additional shot will have to be individually approved by the authorities of the countries.
Around 105 wolf packs currently live in this country, shows the current wolf monitoring 2018/2019 by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the federal documentation and advice center on wolf (DBBW).
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According to this, most of the strictly protected animals exist in an area that spreads from the Saxon Lausitz to the northwest. Most wolf packs live in Brandenburg (41), followed by Saxony (22) and Lower Saxony (21).
A wolf pack usually consists of three to eleven animals - the parents and the offspring of the past two years. In addition there are 25 recorded wolf pairs and 13 sedentary single wolves. Experts estimate the total population to be between 275 and 301 adult animals.
For the first time since the species was exterminated in Germany, individual local wolves in Baden-Württemberg , Rhineland-Palatinate , North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein have also been recorded.
However, the risk of people being attacked by a wolf is low. Since wolves have been living in Germany again, no incident has been documented in which one of the animals has been aggressive towards a human.