PressSplit
The wildlife camera that showed two individual wolves in Herscheid on August 22, documented a family pack with a total of five animals on August 27 shortly before midnight – a female wolf trotting ahead (not pictured), three young wolves and a large male wolf. Eberhard Kaufmann © Private
At least five wolves have been documented in the Sauerland region. According to our information, a wolf pack has also been officially confirmed. Now a video with three pups has surfaced.
Herscheid – If there was still a need for concrete proof that there were wolf cubs in the Ebbegebirge and that a family pack was roaming around there, then this proof is now available. Now it happened very quickly: According to information from our newspaper, the State Environmental Agency Lanuv confirmed a wolf pack and proof of reproduction on Thursday (29 August). Most recently, a wolf family with three cubs was recorded by a wildlife camera. However, the proof was based on photos that had already been taken a few weeks ago.
As Eberhard Kaufmann, spokesman for the Herscheider Mühle fallow deer ring, told the editorial team late on Wednesday evening, a wolf camera in Herscheid recorded a special natural event on Tuesday shortly before midnight, which was documented for the first time in the local region. The wildlife camera shows a dog-like creature running past the camera at 11.47 p.m. Shortly afterwards, three “half-grown” young animals roam through the picture one after the other, followed by a large “canid”, which is probably the male of the family pack. The Pictures also confirm our newspaper’s report from the beginning of the week that wolf cubs were born in the Märkischer Kreis.
Wolf pack confirmed in MK! Three puppies run in front of camera – with video
A few weeks ago, a wolf family was filmed doing this. According to information from our newspaper, the recordings are in the possession of the State Environmental Agency. Now the wolf pack has been confirmed. Eberhard Kaufmann commented on the new recordings as follows: “I am glad that the pack has now been documented and have also informed Mayor Uwe Schmalenbach about it.”
There is a large population of fallow deer in the local region, which provides the wolves with a good supply of food. At the same time, livestock farmers are also on alert. Gerhard Schmoll © Private
At the same time, wolf advisor Heiko Cordt sent the new video material to Dr. Matthias Kaiser at the Lanuv Species Conservation Center, who may comment at short notice.
When the editorial team in the course of the Reporting on the livestock attack in Herscheid-Höllmecke When Lanuv spokesman Wilhelm Deitermann presented the images from the wildlife camera on August 22nd, he saw no evidence of an increase in the local wolf population. “I cannot yet see from the images that it is certain that the animals recorded are wolves,” the Lanuv spokesman explained a few days ago, referring to specialists who could confirm a wolf sighting based on small details.
However, it should now be clear that the video footage does not show a family of dogs running away with their large puppies in the middle of the forest, but a pack of five wolves. The residents of the region already know that they could come across a family of wolves at any time while walking in the forest. According to Kaufmann, however, it would be fundamentally wrong to panic, because wolves generally avoid people. However, this does not apply to the wild animal population. “You have to remember that there are now five hungry mouths to feed every day,” said Kaufmann.
Wolf pack in MK: Officially documented female wolf has given birth
The female wolf officially documented last year with the identification GW2856f has obviously had offspring. Wolves usually give birth to three to six pups. The female wolf with the identification F07, which lives in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, showed how fertile female wolves can be, giving birth to a total of 46 pups. With the offspring now documented here, which are capable of reproduction and giving birth after 16 to 18 months, the population in the Ebbegebirge region is likely to continue to expand.
The fact that the wolves feel at home here also has to do with another uncontrolled population: according to Kaufmann, some fallow deer were released into the wild in the Herscheider Mühle area in 1978. Since then, the population in the wild has multiplied and, according to Kay Hömberg, the second chairman of the Fallow Deer Ring, there are around 1,000 animals living in the wild.
Wolf in MK: “This is like a well-stocked pantry for the wolves here”
“This is like a well-stocked pantry for the wolves,” says the man from Plettenberg. The hunters’ task of decimating the population will now inevitably be taken over by the wolf pack. “It will work for a while, but then the fallow deer population will decrease significantly and the wolf population will increase significantly.” And that will also have serious consequences for livestock farmers.
A wolf has now been detected several times in the Hochsauerland district. This is particularly good news for livestock farmers.
