Wolves continue to plague sheep and cattle farmers in the Northeast. In 2022 there were 67 livestock attacks, the second highest figure ever. There have already been two shooting permits, but the wolves have disappeared.
Schwerin/Pasewalk (dpa/mv) - Wolves have killed or seriously injured 343 sheep, calves and other livestock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2022, despite protective measures. This is the result of current statistics from the Schwerin Ministry of the Environment up to October, as a spokesman for the German Press Agency said. There were a total of 67 predator attacks on farm animals, even despite fence protection. This is the second highest value since 2007, when such wolf attacks were first officially recorded.
In 2020 there was the previous record of 102 attacks and 452 killed and injured sheep, calves and other livestock. The country paid around 40,000 euros in compensation at the time.
As a special feature, two wolves were registered this time, which alone account for 15 such attacks. The animal with the designation GW 1532 could be detected for eight incidents in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim, the wolf had already been noticed several times in 2021. In addition, Wolf GW 2574 was detected for 7 incidents in the districts of Ludwigslust-Parchim and Rostock. It hit 29 sheep twice at once.
For both animals there were requests for "removal", as a spokesman for the ministry said. However, it was not shot because the wolves could no longer be tracked down after their last livestock attacks. "The applications have been placed on 'dormant'," as it was said. According to the ministry, there has not yet been a killing of a wolf justified in this way in the north-east.
With 23 and 20 attacks, sheep and cattle farmers in the Vorpommern-Greifswald districts and in West Mecklenburg have to cope with the most incidents. Because of the problems with grazing animals, farmers and politicians are repeatedly calling for the EU-wide strictly protected wolf to be included in hunting laws and to limit its further spread. According to the ministry, there are 16 packs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - each with around 8 to 10 animals, experts estimate - as well as a few pairs of wolves and individual animals that come from Poland, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony.
