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Darmstadt-Dieburg: Wolf from southern Hesse is dead

  • fromClaudia Kabel

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The male wolf with the identification GW1835m was run over in Rhineland Palatinate. He was the third known wolf from the Alps in Hessen. At the end of September he tore a deer near Ober-Ramstadt.

The male wolf from southern Hesse, who was found near Darmstadt at the end of September, is dead. He was run over on November 8 on the B 51 near the Verbandsgemeinde Bitburger Land (Rhineland-Palatinate) – about two hundred kilometers from Ober- Ramstadt (Darmstadt-Dieburg district), where he killed a deer on September 30th.

Police immediately suspected wolf

“It was dark, it was wet when the animal ran from the edge of the lane onto the street in front of a car at 8:29 p.m.,” reported a spokesman for the Trier police headquarters on Monday when asked by the Frankfurter Rundschau. The animal was hit by a car and thrown onto the opposite lane, where it was run over by oncoming traffic. The colleagues immediately suspected that it was a wolf and called the veterinary office, said the police spokesman.

Wolf evidence

A total of ten wolves have been involved in car accidents in Hessen since 2011, nine of which were killed. In 2020, wolves were detected five times in southern Hesse: twice by genetic analysis in Darmstadt-Dieburg and in the Bergstrasse district and three times by photo in the Odenwald district and in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district. Throughout Hesse, wolves have been detected 51 times through photos or genetic analyzes. Two wolves in Vogelsberg and North Hesse are considered to be sedentary. 80 suspected cases were not confirmed. In three cases, the results of the genetic analyzes are still pending.

The Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation receives observations, checks them and provides information about all wolf cases at: hlnug.de/themen/naturschutz/tiere-und-pflanzen/arten-melden/wolf

The Senckenberg Institute in Gelnhausen (Hessen) now confirms that the dead animal is the wolf with the identifier GW1835m, as announced by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Environment. GW1835m is the second wolf to be found in the Eifel.

Animals move along the streets

GW1835m was recorded by genetic analysis in Germany in October. According to the Hessian State Office for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG), it was the third evidence of a wolf from the Alpine population in Hesse. Franziska Vogt, HLNUG spokeswoman, said that he was the only wolf in southern Hesse who could have had a genetic fingerprint. This means that the deadline for verification has actually started for the animal, says Vogt. “It’s a shame that it ends so abruptly.” If a wolf is found in the same region for six months, it is considered resident. Unfortunately, the animals would often run over. Telemetry studies on wolves with transmitter collars have shown, according to HLNUG, that the animals often move along guidelines in the landscape. This could be rivers, but also fenced highways or railways. “Wolves cannot cope with our fragmented landscape,” says Vogt.

Wolf incidents in southern Hesse

Five times this year wolves were found in southern Hesse. It is unclear whether it was the same wolf each time or different. A wolf was photographed twice within a few days in April in Reichelsheim (Odenwald). According to the Hessian Wolf Commissioner Susanne Jokisch, only the genetic group of the population to which the wolf can be assigned could be recorded when a gene was detected in Lautertal (Bergstrasse). From the two photos in Reichelsheim, no statements can be made as to which individual it is. It is also unclear whether the wolf that was photographed in Fischbachtal (Darmstadt-Dieburg district) on October 7th was GW1835m.

Original article: A wolf kills a deer in Ober-Ramstadt, in Fischbachtal one goes into a camera trap. Wolf consultant Raina Kessler reports on her work. Wolf in Darmstadt-Dieburg: Third animal from the Alps spotted in Hesse

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