Second accident within five days Region: Second wolf run over and killed
For the second time in five days, a young male wolf was run over in the Rodder area of the region. Genetic analyses will now confirm whether he comes from the Leusscheid pack.
Another game accident involving a wolf has been reported in the region. The accident occurred on Thursday, 20 January, at around 8 a.m. on state road 268 near Hennef-Uckerath, shortly before the village of Büllesbach. The driver was not injured, but her car suffered minimal damage, according to the Rhein-Sieg-Erft Forestry Office. The wolf succumbed to its injuries on the spot. Also on Saturday, 15 January, a young male wolf was run over near Eitorf. Both accident sites are about six kilometres apart as the crow flies.
Like the previous accident victim, the body of the deceased animal was sent to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. There, a dissection is to be carried out to determine, among other things, the age and state of health of the young wolf. A genetic sample was sent to the Senckenberg Institute in Gelnhausen. The examination should clarify whether the wild animal is a descendant of the Leusscheid pack. "This takes some time," explains Oliver Dreger, wolf officer at the Rhine-Sieg-Erft Regional Forestry Office. "So far, the Institute has no results from the first animal involved either."
Wolves are nocturnal
According to "Lanuv", the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection, the two wolves run over are the first in the Bergisches Land region. However, traffic accidents are the biggest cause of death for wolves in Germany, accounting for 75 percent. It was unusual that both wolves ventured onto roads with heavy traffic during daylight hours. For the young animals, which are actually nocturnal, the time of reproduction and the search for a new territory now begins.
(Original text: Rosanna Großmann;Translation: Mareike Graepel)
