After a wolf attack, a farmer caused a sensation with an unsavory protest. He hung the dead cattle on his property – and railed against politics.
Stücken – Pedestrians and passers-by in the small town of Stücken in Brandenburg gave a farmer a lasting shock. A cattle was killed in his paddock that night. The farmer Jens Schreinike is certain: the animal was torn by a wolf. Experts expect more wolf attacks in Germany in the future. As the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung ( MAZ ), a local newspaper in West Brandenburg, reports, Schreinike caused a sensation with an unsavory protest
Brandenburg: After the wolf attack, the farmer hangs up dead cattle
The farmer hung up the dead animal on his property. In such a way that residents, passers-by and drivers could see it. Schreinike attached a cardboard sign above it. “Wolf sacrifice. Thanks to the dreamers in this country ”it read. The farmer explains his action to the MAZ. “We wanted to show people that behind the numbers in the crack statistics there are such images,” said Schreinike. Pictures that he and other farmers would have to see regularly because wolves would repeatedly attack their cattle.
After Wolf attack: Brandenburger calls on politics to act
With his protest action, the Brandenburg farmer wants to draw attention to a grievance – the wolf enjoys the highest protection status that exists in Germany. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, animals are strictly protected throughout Germany. Violations can result in heavy penalties – up to five years in prison are possible. For the farmer Schreinike this is incomprehensible: The population of wolves in Brandenburg is so large “that the high protection status is no longer justified,” the farmer told the MAZ. Some politicians and celebrities are campaigning for the protection of wolves. *
After a wolf attack: Emotional words from the animal owner
Because of the special protection that the wolf enjoys, the farmer feels like someone “who is tied up and also being beaten”. For grazing animal owners, the wolf is also an economic threat: “We are not allowed to defend our property. We have to put up with it, ”complains the man from Brandenburg.
According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the wolf population increased in 2019/2020. Monitoring has shown that 128 wolf packs, 39 pairs and nine individual animals are on the move in Germany. That is a growth of almost ten percent. In previous years, however, this number was significantly higher – there were growth rates of up to 30 percent. The state of Brandenburg is the front runner in terms of wolf populations. In Bavaria there were two wolf packs, two pairs and three solitary animals during the study period.
When presenting these figures, the BfN made it clear that the “favorable conservation status” of the local wolf population has not yet been achieved. The Federal Office clearly rejected requests for the animal to be hunted. However, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) recently spoke out in favor of regional wolves hunted. The background is more frequent wolf attacks than in previous years, as the German press agency reports. The Environment Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Till Backhaus (SPD), described Klöckner’s initiative as “an electoral roar”.
Farmer Schreinike is unsettled by the risk of the wolves spreading further. He is hoping for a loosening of the wolves protection. His protest action was short-lived. The police asked the farmer to remove the cattle carcass in the afternoon. (dst) * tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
