Culls in East Tyrol

Large predator wipes out entire breeding line

Manuel Fürhapter lost almost half of his flock of sheep in one night.(Bild: Save the Alps)

In Außervillgraten in East Tyrol, a predator struck on Tuesday night and wiped out an entire breeding line of spectacled sheep. The dead animals are not the only loss for the owner. The province of Tyrol issued a shooting order and only a few hours later a predator was shot in the area.

Manuel Fürhapter from Außervillgraten had to witness these horrific images when he visited his spectacled sheep in their night pen that morning. "I went to the barn to feed the animals at 7 a.m. like every day and saw sheep lying on the ground on the way," he explains.

The extent of the incident: six animals were killed. He had to have nine sheep euthanized by the official vet a short time later, and seven others were seriously injured.

The shelter is located four meters from the house. It is a partially covered night pen, with an electric fence and lots of electricity, as required. The wolf is clever and probably jumped over it.

Manuel Fürhapter

There was no question in his mind that the attacker was a wolf: "The shelter is four meters from the house. It's a partially covered night pen, with an electric fence and lots of electricity, as required. The wolf is clever and probably jumped over it."

The province of Tyrol confirmed his suspicion of a wolf and issued a culling order on Thursday morning. "This applies for a period of eight weeks within a radius of ten kilometers from the location of the incident," it said that morning.

Shooting a few hours after the order
But it didn't take that long: as the state announced on Friday morning, a wolf was shot in the area by hunters in the evening hours on Thursday.

"This fulfills the regulation and it will subsequently be lifted. The shot animal will now be taken to the AGES (Agency for Health and Food Safety, note) in Innsbruck and examined there," it said in a press release.

These two young animals survived the attack.(Bild: Save the Alps)

Breeding line eradicated, consequential damage probably enormous
Fürhapter has never seen wolves attacking so close to houses in his community. On the surrounding mountain pastures, however, it has.

The surviving animals are traumatized. This is now also anchored in their genetics. Miscarriages are now to be expected in the mother animals.

Regina Stich, Obfrau von „Save the Alps“

The young East Tyrolean lost almost half of his spectacled sheep as a result of the wolf attack. An entire breeding line of the already endangered species was wiped out. "It's simply gone, you can't replace it with money," he complains about the effects and continues: "There is also consequential damage, because now there are problems with the AMA and ÖPUL requirements, because I can no longer drive the sheep to the alpine pasture and can only graze them at home."

 He receives support from the "Save the Alps" association and chairwoman Regina Stich: "The surviving animals have been traumatized. This is now also anchored in their genetics. Miscarriages are now to be expected in the mother animals."

She strongly doubts the co-existence of humans and wolves in the Alpine region and also sees problems for tourism: "Safe hiking is at risk and this is not just a problem for farmers, but for society as a whole."