Suddenly in front of barn

Farmer drove wolf from his farm by screaming

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

A farmer from Unterweißenbach must have nerves of steel. At 8 o'clock on Thursday morning, the farmer was suddenly confronted by a wolf that had approached the barn. The courageous farmer from Mühlviertel did not hesitate and did not flee, but scared the wolf away with loud cries. 

It is not known whether he said "Go away!" nobly or hurled an authentic Mühlviertler "Schleich di'!" at the Isegrim. In any case, the loud verbal attack was successful: the uninvited visitor fled.

Deer knuckles found in the forest
Although a wolf was not discovered on the Gis in Lichtenberg, the possible remains of one were. A woman from Linz also found a deer knuckle gnawed down to the bone while walking in the forest on Thursday. She documented the find and is now wondering whether it was a wolf and whether she should continue walking there alone. Christopher Böck, managing director of the provincial hunting association, is of course more likely to suspect the work of a typical scavenger, i.e. a fox.

A walker in Linz found this gnawed deer knuckle in a wooded area on the Gis. Was it a wolf?

(Bild: zVg)

Called for 55 assessments
But what about real wolves? So far, the crack assessors have been called out a total of 55 times. A so-called kill is a dead animal in which an attack by a large carnivore was determined as the primary cause of death, says Philipp Engleder from the Upper Austrian Department of Agriculture and Forestry: "DNA samples were taken in 43 cases. In six of these samples, the wolf could be clearly identified - twice in farm animals and four times in wild animals. In another four samples, it was not possible to clearly determine whether it was a wolf or a dog."

A lot has been done to prevent livestock kills. Provincial Councillor Langer-Weninger has significantly improved the safety of livestock with the four-measure package.

Philipp Engleder von der Landesabteilung Land- und Forstwirtschaft ist der neue Wolfsmanager.

Sheep equipped with PS transmitters
In general, the number of reported livestock tears has fallen significantly this year, says Engleder: "To be honest, we don't know exactly why. However, we suspect that the various measures, such as increased herd protection, have had an effect." On the Dachstein, for example, where there were more serious problems, sheep were fitted with PS transmitters and containers were set up for shepherds.