Photo trap pictures Wolf pack from Eitorf has seven pups again
Windeck · There is a wolf pack in the wolf area Oberbergisches Land, which includes Hennef, Eitorf and Windeck. Now seven wolf pups have been sighted there.
The Leusscheid pack has cubs again. Seven wolf pups have been spotted in the Oberbergisches Land wolf area. A photo trap captured the young wolves, which are about four months old, as the State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (Lanuv) announced on Wednesday. The photo was apparently taken in September. According to the Lanuv, two old wolves and a yearling can also be recognised.
The state office assumes that the mother of the pups is the same doe that raised pups the previous year. In the meantime, however, she is accompanied by another, newly arrived male - the two have been repeatedly identified together while feeding on torn prey since March, according to the Lanuv. Of the seven wolf pups born last year, two yearling females have still been detected in the Leuscheid territory, which stretches across Hennef, Eitorf and Windeck, in recent months.
Young wolves leave the parental territory at different times and usually at the age of two years at the latest, when they become sexually mature, according to a statement by the authority. Yearlings of both sexes participated in the care of the pups until this time.
According to current knowledge, the members of the pack in the Leuscheid territory move on the North Rhine-Westphalian side in the area of the town of Hennef and the municipalities of Eitorf and Windeck; on the Rhineland-Palatinate side, the territory extends into the municipalities of Altenkirchen-Flammersfeld and Asbach. Wolf territories in Germany have an average size of about 200 square kilometres.
In recent months, numerous farm animals have already been killed by wolves in the area. For owners of grazing animals in North Rhine-Westphalia who are worried about their animals because of the current wolf depredations, the NRW Chamber of Agriculture has set up a service hotline to which they can direct their questions. This hotline also provides contacts to the Chamber's experts. If necessary, on-site counselling appointments can be arranged after initial contact by phone. The hotline also provides information on herd protection measures, current funding opportunities and the application procedure.
The Lanuv recommends that grazing livestock keepers inform themselves as early as possible so that the complex compensation and application procedure can be accelerated in the event of a wolf attack.
The service hotline for herd protection can be reached at 029 45/98 98 98 from Monday to Thursday between 8 am and 5 pm, on Fridays between 8 am and 1 pm. In addition, consultation appointments can be requested around the clock via the answering machine of the hotline or by e-mail to herdenschutz@lwk.nrw.de.
(Original text: Andrea Ziech / Translation: Mareike Graepel)
