Hunter mistakes pony for wild boar – tragic end for the animal!

Hunter mistakes pony for wild boar – tragic end for the animal!

In a shocking incident in Neulengbach, Lower Austria, a hunter accidentally shot a pony he mistook for a wild boar. This happened on the night of Thursday to Friday while the man was hunting for wild boar and was looking for animals with a thermal imaging camera. The fatal shot was fired while the pony was grazing in a meadow. Unfortunately, any help came too late for the animal; it had to be euthanized after the incident, like 5min.at reported.

The hunter, who realized his mistake immediately after the incident, contacted the pony's owner. The police imposed a temporary weapons ban on him and filed a complaint. The case was also forwarded to the public prosecutor, who now has to clarify whether there is a criminal offense. Such tragic mix-ups are not just isolated cases; Stern.de reports that similar incidents in the past have led to legal consequences for the hunters responsible, who were prosecuted in the case in Thuringia or Baden-Württemberg, for example, where a hunter also shot a pony.

A dangerous mistake with consequences

The incidents shed a critical light on hunting practices and the necessary care that hunters must exercise. A court had already ruled that a hunter who is unable to correctly identify his target is considered unreliable under gun law. Clear rules state that a hunter must accurately identify the game before firing a shot. Given the tragedy of the Neulengbach incident, it is expected that the public and authorities will pay greater attention to such incidents in order to avoid similar tragedies in the future.