Winterberg / Lichtenfels. A deer is beheaded in a forest near Medebach. The horror is great. This is known about the cruel act and the perpetrators:
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It is an unusual reward: 10,000 euros are advertised in a classified ad in the Westfalenpost for evidence of poachers in the border area between South Westphalia and Hesse
Medebach in the Hochsauerlandkreis. There a poacher apparently shot a deer and cut off its head.
The carcass of a poached deer was found there in the area of the Faust forestry administration. The perpetrator or perpetrators killed the animal, severed its head and left the rest of the body. “Probably the offender or perpetrators were interested in the trophy,” suspects attorney Matthias Rappel from Winterberg. His name and contact details are under the ad; He represents the territory owners who do not want to appear in public themselves.
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The lawyer does not know exactly where the carcass was found – according to internet research, the forests of the Faust forestry are located in the Lichtenfels area, just beyond the city limits of Medebach.
Allegedly, several incidents
It’s not just the unlawful killing of the stag that infuriates Rappel’s clients. “Valuable game meat of around 100 kilograms was carelessly left lying in the forest and rotted,” says the ad. To make matters worse, the whole thing should not have happened for the first time: the stranger or the unknown in the area had been up to mischief for several years.
Hunting poaching is a Criminal offense (Section 292 of the Criminal Code). She is punished with fines or imprisonment for up to three years.
In particularly severe cases the penalty is between three months and five years in prison. Cases in which poaching is carried out professionally or habitually, at night, during the closed season, with snares or in other unprofessional ways are considered to be particularly severe. Even if several participants were jointly equipped with firearms, this can be considered a serious case.
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How often exactly there should have been similar incidents there could not be found out on Thursday (November 5th). The 10,000 euro reward is to be paid out to those who can provide information that “lead to the conviction and final conviction of the perpetrator”.
Poaching – that sounds like times long gone, homeland films and romantic rebellion. In fact, forbidden hunting was also a major problem in the Sauerland and neighboring Wittgenstein in earlier times, about which several books have been published in recent years. The local theologian and writer Peter Bürger published his work “War in the Forest” in 2018, in which he describes numerous tragic examples from the Altkreis area that occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Over 900 cases annually
But hunting is also illegal in the forests of the 21st century. However, many poachers are no longer concerned with cheap meat or even saving the starving family, but with trophies. The antlers and heads of the animals are much sought-after jewelry.
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The police recorded 907 poaching cases across Germany last year. The number of these reported incidents has decreased on average over the past 25 years – 1996 was the year with the most cases in this period: 1502.
In addition to the loss of game meat and trophies, legitimate hunters and hunting associations also complain about the often unprofessional killing of animals by poachers. It is not uncommon for them to only injure the game and for it to perish. Poachers often do not stop at protected species and do not consider closed seasons.
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In order to be charged and convicted as a poacher, however, you do not have to kill the animal – it is already forbidden to take with you found antlers that have been dropped by the deer in late winter or spring. The technical term for such finds is dropping poles; they are available to those who exercise the hunting rights in the area concerned. For attorney Rappel, poaching is not an everyday occurrence in his office. He promises to treat information about the case of the poached deer confidentially.
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