Image: THOMAS KIENZLE (APA/AFP/THOMAS KIENZLE)
After the number of sightings and cracks in Upper Austria is increasing, it should be possible to kill problem wolves. AG wildlife spokesman behavioral biologist Kurt Kotrschal criticizes that the current draft encourages “finding reasons for shooting that don’t have to come true afterwards”. The draft is currently available for review, and the state government should make a decision at the end of June. The responsible state councilor Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP) does not want “any clandestine action” and has therefore also invited nature and environmental protection organizations to submit their statements.
“Total eradication aims”
The wildlife group recognizes the effort to “create a framework that makes it possible to live with the wolves, which are also increasing in Upper Austria, with as little conflict as possible,” says the statement now available. Just like the ordinances that have already come into force in Tyrol, Carinthia and Lower Austria, the draft for Upper Austria also contradicts “important points of the valid legal situation”. In practice, a wolf can be shot down “on suspicion” and only then has to be justified, according to the main point of criticism. For the working group wild animals, the impression is created that “the local eradication of wolves in Upper Austria is at least made possible, if not even intended”. However, shooting on suspicion violates the principle of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive that wolves may only be removed after individual assessment.
The aim of the ordinance is to protect the population from wolves and to avert significant damage to livestock, Langer-Weninger justified the need for a new version in April. To protect against these problem wolves, a mandatory procedure must be followed. First, the wolf must be frightened off – first acoustically and visually by everyone, then by hunters with various shots – and finally within four weeks after the last frightening off and within a radius of ten kilometers, it can be temporarily caught and marked or shot down. But deterrence and shooting happen “on the basis of probability parameters,” criticizes Kotrschal. If, after a shoot, it turns out genetically that the wrong animal was killed, the next “suspect” may be shot, so the summary.
As of April, four packs are likely to live in the north-eastern border area of Upper Austria. There are also individual animals that wander through the area. A total of around 25 wolves are said to be in Upper Austria.
Source: Nachrichten
