Pilot project starts

“Confident” wolf could still escape being shot

The data on where which wolves have been detected should be improved.

(Bild: thinkstockphotos.de)

The wolf that was chased away by a goat farmer in Unterweißenbach on 5 December still has to be "good" for two days before the danger of it being put on the cull list is averted. A wolf pilot project will start in Upper Austria in 2025.

Although the same Isegrim was spotted a week earlier and again on December 12, it did not have to be frightened off and therefore did not have to be classified as a high-risk wolf. It is well known that the EU has planned to soften the strict protection of wolves. And Upper Austria wants to be one of the pioneers here in order to provide reliable data on whether the wolf population is large enough and healthy.

35,000 euros per year
Together with Tyrol, Upper Austria will launch a pilot project in the first half of 2025. "The costs per province and year amount to around 35,000 euros," says Agriculture Minister Michaela Langer-Weninger. Most of the money will be used for laboratory testing of loose or hair finds. The measures are to be most intensive along the border with the Czech Republic and Lower Austria, where there are at least four packs.

Europe-wide wolf monitoring
The aim is to make it easier to kill wolves, but to do so it must be proven that the population is not in danger. To this end, a Europe-wide wolf monitoring and management system is to be set up.

The presentation of valid figures on the wolf population is intended to promote a rapid decision at EU level.

Michaela Langer-Weninger, Agrar-Landesrätin

This year, nine high-risk wolves were shot throughout Austria, five in Carinthia, two in Tyrol and one each in Salzburg and Vorarlberg. In Upper Austria, the last of this year's 159 reported wolf sightings and kills took place in Leopoldschlag on December 23.

„Krone“-Kommentar

Weg von den Emotionen

The debate about the return of wolves is a highly emotional one. There are those for whom there can't be enough isegrims and who see their removal as an absolute taboo. And then there are those who would prefer to keep our country wolf-free and also approve of the famous "three s's" - shoot, scoop, keep quiet. In other words, they tolerate illegal shooting.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

The initiative to put the issue on a solid scientific footing is therefore to be welcomed. Facts are the only way to argue. And treat the wolf for what it is: an animal in man-made nature.