The wolf is back Wild animal returns to the Rhineland
BONN · Experts reckon with the permanent return of the wolf to North Rhine-Westphalia. Visits from four wolves have already been recorded this year. Livestock owners have concerns and some wonder whether they are a threat to humans.
The wolf is back. This news caused a stir the first time it popped into the media in 2000. Now, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is considered an area likely to expect more wolves. It will not be long until the first wolf roams through the Kottenforst (Kotten forest). At least that is what almost all the wolf experts expect.
So far this year, the wolf visits have only been fleeting but there is evidence of four of them already this year in NRW. From a biological viewpoint, this is a great success. But the return of the large predator also leads to uncertainty in parts of the population and to problems, especially for grazing livestock farmers.
Until now in NRW, there have been individual animals detected once or more than once and then their traces disappeared. But NABU ( (Nature Conservation Union) expects further evidence of migrating wolves to NRW into the early summer of 2018. Then it would start up again late next fall or early winter.
Is NRW suitable to host wolf population?
Representatives from politics, agriculture, hunting and sheep farming together with the NABU NRW and the Eifel National Park Authority met to discuss the appropriate approach to the wolf species in NRW. The traveling exhibition on the return of the wolf to NRW, which is supported by the foundation Environment and Development NRW, is currently being shown in the permanent exhibition "Wildnis (t) räume".
Around 130 interested visitors followed the discussion attentively. It dealt with the respective viewpoints on the return of the wolf and measures for conflict prevention. A question and answer session followed, with many citizens from various interest groups taking part. Above all, they wondered whether NRW was suitable to host a wolf population, to what extent protection measures could be put in place to protect grazing animals, and whether the wolf poses a threat to humans.
Learning to live with the wolf
The representatives from the various groups were in line on many aspects and agreed that it was important to learn to live with the wolf in NRW. If the wolf comes back, the nature-friendly form of grazing livestock will face challenges and this must be caught early. "The wolf is a fascinating species and will enrich the ecosystem in the Eifel National Park," said Sönke Twietmeyer, animal researcher and wolf advisor in the Eifel National Park Administration. One must reduce prejudices, but at the same time also take into account the existing fears and insecurities among the population, for example amongst livestock owners.
"The wolves are closely monitored throughout the country. Since the return of the wolves to Germany there has not been a single case in which a wolf has approached a human aggressively. It is therefore no problem to go for a walk in the woods on Sundays," said Josef Tumbrinck, Chairman of the NABU NRW. Still, it would be important to respect the general rules in dealing with wild animals, for example to never feed the wolves.
But not only the wolf faces extinction, also the shepherd who keeps herds of sheep. Andreas Schenk of the Federal Association of Shepherds, explains that “The survival of both depends on the will of society not only to demand the preservation of our species and landscapes, but also to finance them.” Agricultural official Franz Weyermann agrees and adds that “Acceptance of wolf migration will succeed only if economic disadvantages are not unloaded onto the livestock owners. " (Orig. text: Holger Willcke, Translation: ck)
