by Klaus Alfs and Udo Pollmer
In the Lord’s name
He had finally succeeded to fit an alpha wolf male with a radio tracker! On 24 February 2023 the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment announced: "We can now collect a lot of authoritative data on wolf behavior such as migration routes, approaches to livestock or humans, from which...
...we can hopefully learn and derive a lot,"1 the responsible minister Christian Meyer of the Green Party is a happy man.
"This research holds a wide range of possibilities to find answers to many questions, depending on the social status of the male or the life stage it is in. For example, [...] we can observe a young wolf's use of human infrastructure in its search for territory [...]."1 Wolf social researchers are looking spellbound at how far a young wolf may us motorways or bike paths; whether it visits outdoor pools at night for a refreshing summer swim or prefers to pass by city hall and inspect the trash cans. Fascinating!
Of course, the Ministry of Environment press release raises the suspicion that creative accounting is at work here. Following farm animals being ripped open and unpleasant encounters with frightened citizens, the ministry is apparently looking to gain time instead of acting, as one should wait for the results first. The Green Mr. Meyer will be certainly not amused if the research results show what farmers and not just them have known for a long time now - that the wolf is a terrible plague.8 In that case, best instead to launch yet another lengthy study, and claim that these questions are still open.
The Wolf - Master of Disaster
No, there are no questions still open. All the necessary data have long been collected through solid studies and the results are clear. How the presence of wolves affects grazing livestock has already been extensively researched in the USA on large cattle herds.
When faced with wolves, cattle change their social behavior dramatically. They become fearful, aggressive, won't let ranchers touch their calves, and no longer tolerate dogs near them.2 Cattle spend a lot of time scouting for wolves, eat less, seek out the safest places to graze instead of the most nutritious, stay longer in open areas and higher ground, which become drier and dustier due to increased trampling.3,4,6 This leads to more respiratory illness, especially in young calves.7 Adult animals come off pasture in late fall weighing up to fifty kilograms less than normal - a consequence of fear and malnutrition. Accordingly, feed costs rise in winter.7
The most substantial long-term study began in 2008.5 As part of very extensive surveys, one wolf from a wolf pack of twelve was tagged, as well as ten cows from a herd of 450 cattle. In the summer of 2009 alone, this wolf had come closer than 500 meters to the ten tagged cows widely dispersed over 20,000 hectares, on 783 occasions. Since there were eleven other wolves in the pack and 440 more cattle in the herd, the conclusion is compelling that the wolves were permanently present - with all the consequences: in 2009, 18 cattle were torn open, with a further five cows, two heifers, one bull and seventeen calves missing.5-7 In other words: a disaster!
Ranchers affected such as Len McIrvin, who owns a herd of Hereford cattle with his son, said, "Cattle and wolves are never going to be compatible. Some people keep saying that [...] cattlemen are going to have to learn to manage for wolves, but that’s impossible. It's hard to 'manage' when you are always on the losing end."7
When his son Bill gave evidence at a public hearing, he was shouted down by the predominantly female audience. McIrvin suspects that this was politically motivated, with the aim of depopulating the West and turning it from Yellowstone to the Yukon into a huge nature reserve, i.e. to bring it under the control of conservation groups.7 We face a similar threat here.
Scare yourself away, and God will scare you away!
The USA has experienced all the consequences of wolves and wolf mania which are partly still ahead of us. In contrast to Germany, however, there are huge uninhabited areas in the USA, and in many states the shooting of wolves is permitted. Even so, people there are still unable to deal with the problem.
The United States has a population density of 33 inhabitants per square kilometer; Germany has 236. The problems that U.S. grazing livestock farmers have with wolves are getting bigger, not smaller, in our densely populated cultural landscape.8 Apart from the local "wolf experts", anyone with a bit of common sense can work this out on the fingers of one hand.
The handling of wolves by the Lower Saxony state government does not inspire much confidence. If a wolf becomes an acute threat to humans and animals, then one wants to "scare away" the animal - e.g. with rubber bullets, which are not allowed to injure the animal however - or begin with educational measures. But even "capture itself [...] with a tranquilizer gun makes for a strong degree of deterrence." And how do "strong deterrent measures" work? "Experiences from Sweden and the U.S. show that the type of targeted scaring of individual animals described above has very limited success."9 Thanks, that's all there is.
No, not yet. The ministry outdoes itself: "Much more promising, on the other hand, is the deterrent effect achieved by any person encountering a wolf making it clear to the animal through "unfriendly" behavior – e.g., shouting at it, acting in a certain way, throwing objects - that the approach is not desired."9 Go on, you try to go up to the wolves and explain to them in simple language and with a raised forefinger what is appropriate. You might as well wave at them with your fool’s hat. Show no fear and don't just run away when the animal is hungry. In this way you can become a useful link of the food chain in Germany.
In Germany, scaring off wolves does not work, not least because an animal that has been scared off once very quickly encounters people again and gets used to them.8 If a young wolf may retreat once or twice, he will quickly realize that the wild gesticulation by of the funny two-legged friends does not have to frighten him. And then he wonders whether the bipeds are not only funny to look at, but perhaps also taste delicious. If they already present themselves to him on the silver platter…. What's represented as "scaring off" and "herd protection" is nothing but trying the wolves to learn all kinds of tricks extremely useful to them in future.
Rough traffic
How about puppy-friendly traffic education for our partners in gray fur instead? The greatest danger to wolves comes from road traffic. But rescue is at hand! The Lower Saxony rescue vehicle for any wolves hit by a car will be already rushing to the scene. Costing 10,000 euros: "The vehicle was developed by a company in Baden-Württemberg together with the wolf advisor of the Hanover region, Helge Stummeyer," says the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper13 "The equipment includes bite-resistant gloves, a net, pole slings, a patented board with restraining straps - and even an electric blanket." And further: "Unlike deer or wild boar, no hunter or police officer may kill an animal that has been hit. According to the law, an official veterinarian must first come to the accident site to examine the wolf ...".13
Here wolf admirers can be called to give mouth-to-muzzle resuscitation, until the physician comes. Elli Radinger, who is called "Germany's leading wolf expert" in the blurb of her book "The Wisdom of Wolves", has already been able to gather relevant experience in this regard. At the beginning of the book she reports with obvious pleasure: "How I kissed a wolf and became addicted". They were enthralled by "Imbo," a "six-year-old male timber wolf in an American wolf enclosure."10 Like Faust’s Gretchen said at the spinning wheel "My rest is gone, my heart is heavy ...".
It is patently obvious that love-struck experts see only tender approaches everywhere, where others talk about attacks. Radinger lives with her dog in Hesse.10 Conveniently, she has also already written a book with the title "Farewell to the beloved dog".11
That is what she will have to take when the dog feels the "wisdom" of a wolf that powerfully bites through its spine. Please dispose of the remains properly!
Times are changing. Once in the German folk song young girls sang: "My sweetheart is a hunter, wears a green hat". Perhaps fools’ hats, preferably red ones, would be the more appropriate fashion accessory now? Nicolette Krebitz broadened our moral horizons in 2016 with her film "Wild". In it, the protagonist gives her boss the cold shoulder and prefers to start a relationship with a stray wolf. Wikipedia knows how to reflect this: "Her outward appearance is increasingly neglected, but she is also self-confident and sexually liberated. This reflects the gradually more intense and familiar relationship with the wolf, with whom she now literally lives together. She begins a kind of love affair with the animal."12 The work received, among others, the German Film Award 2017. While not exactly Oscar-worthy, it certainly raises questions about some unnatural sexual practices.
How is it going to develop further? Maybe with an amorous relationship of a "diverse" with a lesbian she-wolf? Or a she-wolf who is in the wrong body and is now active in politics as a man? To quote the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment: "The research holds a wide range of possibilities."
References
1. Anon: Erstmals wieder erfolgreich ein Wolf besendert. Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Klimaschutz, Online 24. Februar 2023
2. Kluever B et al: Predator and heterospecific stimuli alter behaviour in cattle. Behavior Processes 2009; 81: 85-91
3. Cooke RF et al: Wolf presence in the ranch of origin: Impacts on temperament and physiological responses of beef cattle following a simulated wolf encounter. Journal of Animal Science 2013; 91: 5905-5911
4. Steele JR et al: Wolf (Canis lupus) predation impacts on livestock production: direct effects, indirect effects, and implications for compensation ratios. Rangeland & Ecology Management 2013; 66: 539-544
5. Clark PE et al: Effects of wolf presence on daily travel distance of range cattle. Rangeland & Ecology Management 2017; 70: 657-665
6. Clark PE et al: Evaluation of wolf impacts on cattle productivity and behavior. Oregon Beef Council Report, BEEF010, 2009
7. Smith-Thomas H: Wolves, a Serious Threat to Livestock Producers. in: Lyon TB & Graves WN: The Real Wolf. Farcountry Press, New York 2018: 112–141
8. Möller FN: Zur Hölle mit den Wölfen. BoD, Norderstedt 2018
9. Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Klimaschutz: Der Wolf in Niedersachsen – Häufige Fragen und Antworten (FAQ). Online. Zuletzt aktualisiert am 15. September 2021
10. Radinger EH: Die Weisheit der Wölfe. Ludwig, München 2017
11. Radinger EH: Abschied vom geliebten Hund. Ludwig, München 2022
12. Wikipedia: Wild (2016). Abgerufen am 12. März 2023
13. Sticht C: Erste Hilfe für verletzte Wölfe. Frankfurter Rundschau Online, aktualisiert am 08. Januar 2019
Copyright: EU.L.E. e.V.
Originally published in March 2023 => Wolfsforscher ohne Peilung
Many thanks to our translator Neil McMillan.
English Editor: Josef Hueber, Eichstätt
