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Six dead sheep, plus one injured and four missing animals. A wolf is causing havoc in Tyrol, and a bounty for killing one is intended to motivate hunters.
Umhausen – The wolf is on the loose in the Tyrolean Horlachtal (Austria), about an hour’s drive from the German border. And the community of Umhausen (3500 inhabitants) is very worried.
“Bloodlust”: Wolf kills at least six sheep in Tyrol – state issues shooting regulations
“The animal killed six sheep, injured one sheep and four sheep are still missing. The wolf only ate one animal,” explained Mayor Jakob Wolf at IPPEN.MEDIAHe speaks of an animal in a “blood frenzy”.
On Thursday (27 June) the dead sheep were found in the municipality – and the Tyrolean state government reacted immediately. Since Friday a Shooting regulations for the destructive wolf, it applies for a period of eight weeks within a radius of ten kilometers. This is the second shooting regulation alongside the one for the wolf, which is said to have killed six livestock in the area of the Thruner Alm.
Wolf from Tyrol caught in wildlife camera: Already eight sightings in the municipality of Umhausen
Mayor Jakob Wolf apparently caught the animal on Wednesday, when a wolf walked into his wildlife camera at night. The pest wolf is apparently not just passing through, but feels at home in the Horlachtal. And it is apparently not alone: ”In the municipality of Umhausen, wolves from two different populations have already been genetically confirmed eight times this year,” the state government announced.
Wolf bounty: Tyrolean municipality offers up to 15,000 euros for killing a wolf
For Umhausen it is clear: the pest wolf must go. A bounty has been offered as a special incentive for hunters. “The municipality has offered all hunting areas half of the annual hunting lease if they kill the wolf,” said Mayor Wolf, “this is to encourage hunters to make an effort, because shooting is not an easy task.” Depending on the area, the bounty can be up to 15,000 euros.
However, foreign “bounty hunters” should not saddle up their guns: “Anyone who shoots the animal needs a valid Tyrolean hunting license.”
Austria and Germany ease rules for shooting wolves
The shooting of wolves is very controversial in Germany. “The number of grazing animals killed is not determined by the number of wolves, but by the number of unprotected grazing herds,” wolf expert Uwe Friedel from the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) told the ZDF. Withdrawals are of little help.
Nevertheless, shooting is to be made easier in Germany – in certain cases. The Union has been calling for wolves to be hunted since the EU relaxed the classification. The animals are not threatened with extinction, so problem wolves can be “removed”, as it is called in hunting jargon. Austria relaxed the conditions as early as 2023. (moe)
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