Magdeburg/Bonn (dpa/sa) - The wolf has been slowly spreading since its return to Germany in 1998 - the trend also exists in Saxony-Anhalt and in the neighboring federal states. In the 2021/2022 wolf year (May 1 to April 30), the officially confirmed number of wolf packs nationwide rose to 161 (previous year 158), as announced by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Federal Documentation and Advice Center on the subject of wolves on Monday in Bonn . In Saxony-Anhalt, 24 packs, 4 pairs of wolves and 2 individuals were counted. In the wolf year 2020/21, 22 packs and 3 pairs of wolves were detected. In total, experts expect around 150 animals in the country.
And new packs and pairs are constantly being added. It was not until October that the State Office for Environmental Protection reported that a new pair of wolves had settled in the Altmark near Bismark. The animals had been confirmed using photos from wildlife cameras and other clues.
Saxony-Anhalt, along with its neighboring federal states, is one of the regions in which a particularly large number of wolves are represented. So far, 47 packs and 14 pairs have been identified in Brandenburg, and 35 packs and 10 pairs as well as several individuals in Lower Saxony. Saxony, also a neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt, has 31 packs and 4 pairs of wolves. Wolves are a strictly protected species under nature protection in Germany.
