The number of confirmed wolf records in Hesse increased significantly in 2021 compared to previous years.
The wolf center registered 185 pieces of evidence classified according to nationwide specifications, as a wolf expert from the Hessian State Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG) announced in response to a dpa request.
The faecal samples, hair, videos and photos can come from sedentary or migrating animals, and in some cases the evidence can also be specifically assigned to an animal that is already known.
In 2020 there were 104 definite pieces of evidence, in 2019 only 51 and in 2018 there was not a single one.
The expert pointed out that the number of records was not exclusively related to the number of wolves living in Hesse.
"If active monitoring is intensified, for example by using camera traps or searching for DNA samples, the number of detections also increases."
Hesse currently has six wolf territories with sedentary animals, some of which cross borders, including a pack of young animals near Rüdesheim in the Rheingau.
According to the Wolf Center, it is generally possible for pups to be born in places where, during the mating season at the end of February and beginning of March, a female and a male wolf capable of reproduction are settled together in an area and mating takes place.
The livestock farmers are worried
In addition to the pack in the Rüdesheim territory, another pair is settled in the Ludwigsau territory. "However, it is not possible to predict whether puppies will actually be born again this year and whether they will survive," explained the wolf center, which is based at HLNUG. In 2021, wolf DNA was detected in six livestock carcasses, compared to seven in the previous year and twelve in 2019.
Since April 2021, the Hesse Wolf Center has been the central contact for technical questions about the behavior and occurrence of wolves, advisers for the enforcement and funding administration and is responsible for state wolf monitoring. It is also the office of the AG Wolf, where associations from the fields of grazing, nature conservation, agriculture, hunting and animal welfare come together to discuss current issues relating to wolves in Hesse.
The spokesman for the Hessian farmers' association, Bernd Weber, said that livestock owners were still concerned about the spread of wolves.
The concerns of the animal owners should be heard more in the country, he demanded.
Hesse does not need wolf territories, but grazing animals.
After a carcass has been found, it often takes far too long for a crack expert to be on site to secure traces of the dead animal.