I stumbled across a dilemma that is evolving in Germany.

Just out of curiosity, knowing that there are major cultural differences between Germany and America in matters of nature, nature conservation, and animals in general, I thought I'd bring this up here to get more insights and your opinions on this.

Ages ago, there were wolves in the German forests, but they were diminished and eventually disappeared in the 19th century or so.

About 20 or 30 years ago, wolves were re-introduced in Germany, and they developed well. They do not really see a huge increase in numbers, but the population in growing slowly and steadily, and wolves in general are still rare there.

Occasionally there are complaints, mainly from farmers, about the wolves hunting and killing sheep, calves, rabbits, chickens, etc., but overall the wolves are accepted.

Now it happened that one of the female wolves had a litter of dog/wolf hybrids. None of these have been caught yet, but according to sightings, they seem to be Border Collie/wolf mixes (some experts say so).

And this is where the dilemma starts.

The hybrids are now about 6 months old and have lived in the wild with the wolf pack. They do not show any strikingly different behaviors or have attacked humans. They just live with the wolves.

On a side note, it is very rare that a wolf mates with a dog, so this is probably not going to happen often.

The nature conservation authority now wants to eliminate the hybrids because they are considered an invasive species and will genetically alter the wolf population (which was carefully chosen during re-introduction) in an undesired way. There are also concerns that the hybrids will promote further mating with dogs and closer contact with humans. (This is not a sure thing, because, according to some studies, wolf/dog hybrids are very shy and cautious and avoid contact with humans or dogs even more than purebred wolves, but the evidence is very rare and controversial).

The usual way of accomplishing elimination is to send out trained hunters and shoot the invasive animals.

This is where now the animal rights groups, and with them a fair share of the German people, come in.

They take issue with shooting the hybrids. If killing them, they should be caught and euthanized. But it is cruel and not right to kill an animal for just living where it lives. The hybrids should therefore be caught and kept in a sanctuary.

Nature conservation authority now states that keeping wolves, or wolf hybrids, in captivity is against the animals' nature and not in the best interest of the animals. They suffer because they cannot be provided with a habitat that would fit their needs. (It is not common in Germany to fence off a large piece of land for a sanctuary, Germany is too highly populated and there are communities everywhere which makes this almost impossible).

The hybrids are also not fit for being kept as pets, as they have lived as wild animals and never been socialized.

Catch, spay/neuter, release is not considered a viable option because of the altered behavior of the animals and concerns that they would then be killed by the pack.

Your ideas on this?

 

Your ideas on this?

Shoot them. That's the only reasonable decision. It's sad for the animals, but if they're going to maintain the introduced wolf population, you gotta get rid of the hybrids and shooting them is the best way. It's not a petting zoo. People will complain, but they'll get over it.

Since the beginning of time man has been managing the animals (probably would be more PC to say for thousands of years depending on your view points on how we arrived here but whatever).  It's no different now. We are at the top of the food chain and life is not always fair and is most always violent or tough in some way.  For example, the bunnies in my back yard are protected by me shooting the groundhogs that chase them out from under my buildings. The bunnies then have plenty of time for activities like breeding, because I altered the balance of nature. Then there becomes so many of them that they die of disease, or get viciously killed by a hawk looking for breakfast .

So my opinion is that they consider which way they want it. Total evolution which would be allowing the hybrids to live and breed and therefore change the genetic pool or keep the genetic pool clean which would mean shooting the hybrids.   Either way has ramifications, they have to simply realize that.  I hate it when people agonize too much over decisions like this.

My personal way of handling it would be to get rid of the hybrids. I see too many of the problems that we have in this country dealing with invasive species and the damage those species do.  In the end it comes down to the fact that mankind is at the top and  therefore it's our job to manage the wildlife appropriately.  I would want to make sure that the animal is euthanized in a humane way of course, which for me, would mean hunting them, rather then live trapping them to hold in a cage, scared and miserable, until gassed or held down and shot up with drugs.

FWIW, I've talked to several people who are pretty knowledgeable outdoorsman. They claim to be seeing more large "coyotes" in their areas and are quite convinced that there is some crossbreeding going on with the dogs. Seeing that there are coy-dogs in the west, it is plausible. At the same time they report that these animals are less scared of humans and appear to be more aggressive then what they have been used to seeing. Sometimes hybrids are good, sometimes not.

For the greater good of the species, I would think the best thing to do would be to eliminate them. I could see this causing issues and future generations and getting away from the pure Wolf.

AT,  I saw that also about the horse and that was the most humane thing to do. I don’t understand why people think they should give it all this veterinarian care when it is a wild animal.