Pointless quick shots: the data is crystal clear: taking up arms exacerbates problems
Wolf child, happy ending? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. Despite all the cheers from Carinthia, the indiscriminate killing of a she-wolf did not solve the problem at all. On the contrary: as a US study with data from 25 years shows, kills are even counterproductive. Shooting wolves leads to an aggravation of the problems: With every wolf killed, significantly more livestock become victims of wolf kills in the following year, the researchers report. Even a single shot means that four percent more sheep and five to six percent more cattle are killed in the following year. If twenty wolves are killed, the rate of loss among grazing animals actually doubles.
Launch leads to chaos. The reason for the increase in the number of cracks after wolf kills, according to the researchers, lies in the destruction of well-established social structures in the wolf pack when an individual is suddenly missing. Especially when an experienced leader is shot down. As a result, it can happen that the pack grows uncontrollably, but also that it disperses. For pet owners, this means even greater uncertainty.
A sober look at the numbers. In principle, predators in Austria are only responsible for a fraction of the deaths among alpine animals. An example: According to official information, a total of 5,751 sheep died in Austria’s alpine pastures in 2019 as a result of storms, falling rocks and diseases. This corresponds to about 5 percent of the sheep kept at that time. Such figures are no exception. It is estimated that a similar level of mortality can be expected year after year. However, these failures are not worth a sensational article in any newspaper.
Complete solution is possible. In comparison, the number of wolf kills in Austria is still relatively low, even if it is increasing. 490 sheep were killed by wolves all over Austria in 2021, in 2022 it was just over 700. Why? Because herd protection in Austria – to put it mildly – is still in its infancy. The good news is that both wolf kills and “natural” deaths can be greatly reduced or largely avoided through comprehensive herd protection measures such as herding. In this context in particular, a Tyrolean herd protection pilot project is showing the desired successes: not a single crack in the alpine summer of 2022!
Gut feeling instead of science? Political decision-making should be guided by the evidence and not by gun rage and false promises. When it comes to herd protection, Austria does not need to reinvent the wheel, but can use best practice examples from neighboring Alpine countries and other comparable regions as a guide.
Populist eyewash. The fact that politicians are proposing to farmers and the population that the problem is solved by killing wolves is scandalous in view of the data available – and also in view of the verifiable successes in livestock protection. That is why the decision-makers and the agricultural interest groups must finally take on real responsibility and support the livestock owners as quickly as possible both financially and organizationally in setting up herd protection measures. Everything else is non-factual populism.
Sources:
> Robert B Wielgus et al. (2014): “Effects of wolf mortality on livestock depletion.” In: PLoS EINS 9(12)
> Science news: “Fighting wolves takes revenge”
> Austria center bear wolf lynx
> “Herd protection projects in the district of Landeck: Oberland bodyguards against wolves and bears”. Tyrolean daily newspaper, October 11, 2022
> Statistics Austria, BMLRT
Information on the topic of herd protection:
> Herd protection pilot project in Tyrol
> LIFEstockProtect: Herd protection Austria, Bavaria and South Tyrol