Misleading stickers in the Märkischer Kreis: Where are the wolves really?

Misleading stickers in the Märkischer Kreis: Where are the wolves really?

In the Märkische Kreis, stickers with the inscription "Attention! Wolfs area" have appeared, which cause confusion. The Märkische Kreis has now made it clear that these stickers do not come from it. The stickers recommend leash dogs and supervise children. The district also emphasizes that there is no increased danger for people in the forests and that there have been no attacks on humans in regions with more wolves.

In the Ebegebirge, a leash requirement for dogs in nature reserves applies, but this is not due to the presence of wolves. The sender of the stickers is a private association without a connection to the Märkische Kreis or the Sauerland Rothaar Mountains Nature Park. The district therefore asks not to attach them to public plates or signs. On a QR code on the sticker, reference is made to the website of the association "Safe the Alps-Weidezone Germany", which is located in Nuremberg. The chairman of the association, Lars Eric Broch, lives in Wipperfürth and took part in a wolf lecture in Valbert.

background information on wolves in Germany

The topic is not new. Wolves have spread back in Germany since 1998 after they have been eradicated for almost 150 years. A wolf couple settled on a military training area in Saxony in 1998 and gave birth to the first German puppies in 2000. In the monitoring year 2022/2023, 184 wolf packs, 47 wolf pairs and 22 individual wolves were counted, with most of them living in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Wolves are a danger to pasture animals, especially for sheep and goats, if there are no corresponding herd protection measures. In 2022 there were 1,136 attacks by wolves that affected 4,366 animals, especially sheep.

The conflict between agriculture, nature conservation and wolf management has increased. Pastor holders demand an active intervention and hunting regulation of wolves. At the end of 2023, a new regulation was decided to shoot striking wolves that overcome herd protection measures within three weeks of an assault without the necessary DNA analysis. Information on herd protection measures and the various aspects of wolf management can be found in detail on the website of the agricultural magazine that deals with the topic.

For more information on the topic and the effects of the wolves, the articles from Comee-On and agriculture.de available.