The chambers close ranks: “Regulations on wolves must be anchored in the new coalition”
“The only wolf we accept is Jakob, as a hunting consultant in the state of Tyrol. That’s how it is, one wolf is enough,’ says a legendary text by the Unterland band “From the side of the community.” Josef Hechenberger (President of the Chamber of Agriculture) is of the same opinion when it comes to Tyrol’s alpine pastures. Now he wants to work shoulder to shoulder with the Chamber of Labor and the Chamber of Commerce to put pressure on the coalition negotiations in the state parliament. The goal: Better regulations for alpine farming and a faster procedure for clarifying a problem wolf.
INNSBRUCK. There are around 70,000 sheep on Tyrol’s alpine pastures – their fate has always made the headlines in recent years.
It was a “bloody alpine summer” again this year, as the “Association for the Protection and Preservation of Alpine Farming and Agriculture” explained in a broadcast. More than 300 sheep and even a cow were killed by wolves in Tyrol. Most of them in East Tyrol. In 2022, 17 wolf individuals and two bears were found in Tyrol.
emotional theme
From animal rights activists to the Farmers’ Union to ordinary people, the topic sparked unprecedented threads of discussion. Even rappers from the lowlands got carried away and wrote a song with the title “Wolf Free Zone”.
The “Association for the Protection and Preservation of Agriculture and Alpine Farming” was founded two years ago by farming organizations and social partners in order to join forces in the problems in agriculture. The annual general meeting took place on Wednesday, at which various demands were decided.
“The hunting law needs to be amended”
Now the Chamber of Labour, the Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Commerce want the discussion to be raised from the emotional to the fact-based level. AK President Zangerl: “We don’t want to heat up the whole thing, we want to discuss it. Without emotions.” LK President Hechenberger declared clear goals: On the one hand, he wants to correct the unequal treatment at EU level – Sweden is already regulating its wolf population by shooting – he wants the hunting law to be changed at state level: “That has to be part of the coalition negotiations be. Because weeks pass between the time the sheep is killed and the decision to kill is given, in which the wolf endangers entire regions.” He suggests that the local hunters should be replaced by “external professionals” in order to be able to act more quickly.
WK President emphasizes the economic factor: “We have great alpine pastures and a great mountain world. Summer tourism is increasing, so bears and wolves have no place in Tyrol.”
On the question of what fate befalls sheep in Tyrol and whether they are exported, Hechenberger says: “Sheep are clearly farm animals. We don’t export them as we only produce 20% of the lamb ourselves. 80% is imported to us from New Zealand. “
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