Wolves in Austria: Status report shows a decline in livestock cracks!

Wolves in Austria: Status report shows a decline in livestock cracks!

The Austria Center Bär, Wolf, Luchs published its annual status report on the wolf situation in Austria on June 6, 2025. This report based on monitoring data of the responsible federal states shows that a total of 102 individual wolves in Austria were demonstrated in 2024. While a wolf was found dead, 13 wolves had to be removed for management reasons. It is particularly striking that wolf evidence in all federal states except Vienna was documented. In addition, nine wolf packs could be identified, four of which had offspring.

The decline in livestock losses from wolves, which is recorded for the second year in a row, was particularly favored by lower losses in sheep and goats. In Tyrol and Carinthia, where the highest livestock losses were found, the numbers are also declining here. The Austria Center Bär, Wolf, Luchs acts as a national coordination center for the management of these species in Austria and works both impartially and scientifically in the areas of monitoring and herd protection.

Statistical evaluation of the livestock cracks

The challenges in creating a uniformly chested crack statistics are considerable. Different categories are taken into account, including examined cracks and injured animals. In 2024, a total of 304 sheep and goats, 25 cattle, and one horse and alpaca each killed a total of 304 sheep and goats. Compared to previous years, however, there is a clear tendency to less torn. The total number of farm animals killed by wolves was significant in 2024 with 457 animals in a decline compared to 2023 when there were 550 cracks. The data from the crack statistics for 2024 are available on the website of the Austria Center.

In order to better understand the situation of farm animals, the crack numbers for the past four years were summarized:

Current wolf population and forecasts

currently 31 wolves are documented in Austria, whereby they are mainly native to Carinthia, Tyrol and Lower Austria. Wildlife biologist Klaus Hackländer estimates that the wolf number could double in the next three years. This leads to a discussion about species protection because the wolves are no longer considered endangered. Hackländer demands a rethink in the strict protective laws that come from a time when the population of the wolves was actually endangered.

A controversial topic is also the request to facilitate the shooting of problematic wolves, especially in view of the 460,000 unprotected farm animals in Austria. In Tyrol, a release for the shooting of two wolves was stopped for the time being. The topic is also important in the context of the upcoming Tyrolean state election campaign. In Germany, 157 wolf packs, 27 wolf pairs and 19 sedentary single wolves were counted.

The complete "Status Report Wolf 2024" is on the website of the Austria Center [Austria Center Bär, Wolf, Luchs] (https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250606_ots0111/oesterreichzentrum-luchs-luchs-veroeffent-status report and offers comprehensive insights into the Wolf situation in Austria. Further information on crack numbers can also be called up on Bär-Wolf-Luchs, while additional details on the ongoing development of the wolves in the region on Vol.at are.