The only female wolf in Baden-Württemberg was probably run over by a car near Schluchsee on Wednesday. Exactly where a wolf pup was fatally captured in December.

WAV Comment – Does not look that ‘damaged’ if it was ‘run over’ by a car. Where is the driver ? – A hunters bullet does not cause massive damage !

Wounds and traces of blood in the fur: A photo shows the dead wolf that was run over on the B500 between the Windgfällweiher and the municipality of Schluchsee (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district).

It is not the first dead wolf in the Black Forest. Back in December last year, there was a collision between a car and an eight-month-old wolf pup.

WAV Comment – “Exactly where a wolf pup was fatally captured in December”  We have contacts who reside in this very area.  Hunters are not supposed to kill wolves; but … many of them ignore the rules – it is exactly the same with the protected Lynx.   The body of a shot (hunted) animal will be thrown onto the road, without failure, after the bullet has been removed, and then left to be run over by a vehicle to make the incident look like a road kill, thus making it all look like a terrible accident – being hit by a car, when in fact the animal was actually shot by hunters.

Female killed in accident: wolf was pregnant

According to police, the collision occurred early Wednesday morning. Around seven o’clock, the animal is said to have crossed the road and was fatally hit by a motorist. The Forest Research Institute (FVA) in Freiburg has now seized the animal. Micha Herdtfelder, head of the Wildlife Institute at the FVA, has confirmed to SWR that it is a female wolf – most likely the female from the wolf pack at Schluchsee. In addition, the animal was pregnant.

The carcass is taken to the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin for further examination. The aim is to obtain nationwide uniform data on the health and nutritional status of killed wolves.

Ministry of the Environment: Formation of packs in BW off the table for the time being

After the only female wolf in Baden-Württemberg was run over, the rebuilding of a pack may have moved into the distant future. “The formation of packs is now off the table in Baden-Württemberg,” said Claudia Hailfinger, press spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Environment.

As the only reproducing female wolf, the female wolf played an important role in the return of the once native predator. After their presumed death, only male wolves are now settled in Baden-Württemberg. According to the Ministry of the Environment, offspring depend on immigrant ferries. It is unclear whether this will happen next year or again in ten years.

Puppy run over a few months ago

Already last December, the only wolf pup in Baden-Württemberg had died on the B500 near Schluchsee. Now it is very likely that his mother died there as well. The puppy was about eight months old and weighed 20 kilograms.

He also had mange, a contagious skin disease. The puppy had been detected in July 2023 by photo trap of the Forest Research Institute (FVA). It was the first known wolf offspring in about 150 years. Since 1866, the wolf was considered extinct in Baden-Württemberg.

In 2015, the first wolf was detected in the country, the animal came from Switzerland. It was run over in the same year on the A5 in Lahr (Ortenaukreis). It was not until 2017 that the first male resettled permanently in the Black Forest.

In 2023, the first pack formed in the municipality of Schluchsee. However, Baden-Württemberg is still a long way from a stable population. Nevertheless, the number of specimens is increasing.

Another sedentary wolf detected in the northern Black Forest

In mid-February, a male wolf was genetically identified in the northern Black Forest. According to the Ministry of the Environment, the animal originally comes from a pack in the Gutenbrunn area of Lower Austria. The male dog is probably three or four years old. According to the ministry, his new “Hornisgrinde Territory” in the northern Black Forest is located in the already existing Wolf Prevention Black Forest funding area. The area encompasses the entire natural area of the Black Forest. It has a size of about 8,800 square kilometers.

So far, comparatively few specimens live in the country. By way of comparison, in the 2022/2023 monitoring year, a total of 184 wolf packs, 47 pairs of wolves and 22 sedentary lone wolves were counted nationwide by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the Federal Documentation and Advice Centre on the Subject of Wolves (DBBW). Nationwide, the wolf focus is also more likely to be in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Nevertheless, incidents on the pastures always cause a stir in the southwest.