Status: 12/13/2022 2:52 PM
After a wolf fatally attacked a dog in Roche (Uelzen region), the mayor of the municipality contacted the ministry. He wants to know how to prevent such incidents.
“I am concerned about how we will deal with it in the future and what measures are taken to avoid such an incident,” says Michael Wedek (CDU) from the Joint Municipality of Roche. According to his statements, he wrote to many politicians, including members of the state and federal parliaments from the region and the Hanoverian Ministry of the Environment, by e-mail. “I want answers about how to deal with wolf packs: what we can tolerate — and what we can’t,” says Widdecke.
Ministry: Dogs must be leashed in wolf areas
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment emphasized that such incidents cannot be prevented, only explained. It’s a ‘difficult story’: The truth is, the spokesperson said, that dog owners – especially in coyote areas – have to put their animals on a leash. Wolfe’s advisors see it the same way: Right now, in mating season, wolves see a loose dog as an intruder and attack. The wolf behaves appropriately. But the problem is that the wolf has now learned that it can kill small dogs.
Wolf hair in the dog’s mouth
The deadly wolf attack occurred on November 17th. It is the first proven matching case in Lower Saxony. A fox terrier ran in a field during a morning walk. Then the owner heard her dog howling and found him seriously injured. It had to be put out. There was still hair in the dog’s mouth, which experts examined using genetic analysis. It turns out they came from the largest male in the Gorder wolf pack. According to a wolf advisor, this wolf only migrated to the Göhrde River in 2020, coming from the French Alps. He is said to have acted inconspicuously so far, to be very wary and shy.
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