Wolves in Saxony: victims of poaching and illegal killings

Wolves are repeatedly falling victim to poachers in the forests of Saxony. Just last Wednesday (February 14), a dead male old wolf was found in the Königshainer Berge area (Bautzen district), said Karin Bernhardt, spokeswoman for the State Office for the Environment. Two cases are still being investigated. It is not yet possible to say with certainty whether these are illegal killings. Last year, three illegally killed wolves were counted. According to Bernhardt, 196 dead wolves have been recovered in Saxony since 2000. Of these, 17 cases were illegal killings.

There are currently around 38 packs, 4 pairs and 2 single animals living in Saxony. According to the state office, 1024 dead wolves have been found in Germany since 1990. Of these, 94 were illegally killed, 762 died in traffic accidents and the cause of death is unknown in 14 cases. The wolf is a strictly protected species in Germany. Anyone who kills wolves risks up to five years in prison.

According to statistics from the State Criminal Police Office, cases of hunting poaching have remained roughly the same in recent years. In 2022, a decrease from 47 to 40 cases was recorded compared to the previous year. In 2018, however, there were only 27 cases. In the past two years, criminologists have managed to solve more than one in three cases. The number of suspects identified fell from 20 in 2021 to 14 in 2022. The districts of Bautzen, Mittelsachsen and Vogtlandkreis led the way in 2022 with five cases each. More recent figures are not yet available.

Poaching is a perennial issue, says Frank Seyring, President of the State Hunting Association. The perpetrators are becoming increasingly professional. They are often equipped with night-vision goggles and silencers and are usually motorized. They hunt almost all usable wild animals. Seyring also sees poachers as a danger to hunters. It is completely unclear how caught poachers react. The double murder of two police officers by poachers in the district of Kusel in Rhineland-Palatinate at the end of January 2022 has also left its mark on the minds of hunters in Saxony. The website of the Dresden Hunting Association currently warns against poachers and explicitly refers to the "Kusel case".

However, it is not only the killing of animals that constitutes hunting poaching; someone may also find and take a deer antler, for example. According to the Sachsenforst state enterprise, taking dead or injured wild animals after a traffic accident can also result in charges being filed.

A case from the forest district of Adorf, where two female deer were found dead with gunshot wounds in June 2022, is considered typical. The animals had probably lived for some time before they died. A more recent case occurred near Bautzen, where the district office received a complaint against an offender who had allegedly slaughtered more than 100 mute swans he had shot since 2016 and illegally sold their smoked breast meat to gourmets on an online forum.