Hesse: New wolf detected in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg

Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) – A new wolf has been detected in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district thanks to a fecal sample. The animal with the laboratory abbreviation GW2571m was genetically recorded for the first time by polishing in Lower Saxony on February 5, 2022, the Hessian State Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG) announced on Wednesday in Wiesbaden. According to a genetic analysis by the wild animal genetics laboratory of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, the male originally came from a pack from the “Hoher Fläming” territory in Saxony-Anhalt. A relationship to the mated male GW1482m and the female GW227f was found, since DNA from both animals was already available in the laboratory’s database.

Since 2010, the laboratory of the Senckenberg Institute has been examining all samples collected during nationwide wolf monitoring. In 2009, the Senckenberg Institute was appointed as the national reference center for genetic testing of wolves and lynxes on the recommendation of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

In the case of the male GW2571m, it is said to be the first record of this animal in Hesse – its sedentary nature, however, is not proven. A wolf is only considered sedentary if it is repeatedly detected in an area over a period of six months, as explained by the HLNUG. Whether the new wolf settles in Hesse or is just passing through would have to be shown by further evidence from wolf monitoring. The Wolfszentrum Hessen of the HLNUG is responsible for this, which collects all information and evidence and provides information on confirmed evidence on its homepage.

For the whole of Hesse, the HLNUG is currently assuming a wolf pack consisting of two parents with at least three yearlings and two more sedentary pairs of wolves – one of them in the wolf territory at the Wildflecken military training area in the Rhön, which has also been proven to have offspring. There are also three sedentary lone wolves. The animals have been detected in the six wolf territories in Hesse.