Wolf management plan

New species: high-risk wolf

Wolves can soon be shot more quickly.(Bild: THOMAS KIENZLE)

The province of Salzburg wants to put a stop to the predators more quickly. A new hunting law and a wolf management plan should help to better protect mountain pastures.  

Wolves, bears and other predators will be at each other's throats more quickly from the summer. Previously, a wolf could only be killed once it had killed 20 animals. Now this is possible after the first kill - by decree. And it will also apply to high-risk wolves that exhibit dangerous behavior, such as losing their fear of humans and staying close to settlements. The new hunting law, which is due to be passed in April, will form the basis for this. "We are expecting a strong summer in the Alpine pastures," says Marlene Svazek (FPÖ). The respective regulation for a cull should then be available within seven days.

Protected grazing areas should also help, as herd protection is practically impossible in most cases. The Oberascher farming family from Fuschl knows this too. In the summer of 2014, they suffered the first wolf kills in the province, losing five of their 17 Alpine stone sheep.

Gertraud and Johanna Oberascher no longer have any sheep for fear of the wolf.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

"After that, we stopped letting the sheep onto the alpine pasture and ultimately stopped keeping the endangered breed," explains Gertraud Oberascher. Because there was no prospect of help back then. If the new measures work, the family could continue their 150-year-old tradition.