New suspected case of Wolfsriss – salzburg.ORF.at
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In Salzburg there is a suspected case of a new wolf tear – this time the district of Abersee in the municipality of St. Gilgen (Flachgau) is affected. There, a wolf is said to have killed six sheep and injured another on Friday night. The country’s wolf commissioner is concerned.
According to a report by the “Salzburger Nachrichten” on Monday, the affected farm owner is the classic agricultural state councilor Josef Eisl. His farm is in the inhabited area. DNA samples were taken and will be examined.
Stock speaks of a slow development. The current tears from sheep did not happen on an alpine pasture, but in a densely populated area in Abersee. That could happen again, says the expert.
“Wolves Surprised to Appear in Autumn”
Compared to 2021, there were noticeably fewer wolf cracks this year, says Stock. While many cases were recorded in Carinthia and Tyrol in the summer, it was quiet in Salzburg, says wolf officer Hubert Stock.
“We are all the more surprised that wolves are appearing more and more often in autumn. We assume that there are currently three wolves in the state of Salzburg. It’s about the incidents in Saalfelden (Pinzgau) and Abersee (Flachgau), and a transmitter-equipped wolf is still in the Eben/Flachau (Pongau) area.”
“Every wild species that is not hunted loses its shyness”
Stock sees the current cracks of six sheep in Abersee with concern – after all, it is a densely populated area. “It’s not really surprising that the wolf is getting closer to humans. Every wild species that is not hunted loses its shyness over time. But the concern is there because there is a legitimate fear among the population when wolves move so close to inhabited houses,” says Stock
Wolves are usually shy, but how an animal will behave is difficult to predict. Stock assumes that the animals will increasingly invade populated areas in the future. Based on the wolf management plan with the defined criteria for killing, it is then necessary to act, emphasizes Stock.