Are there any Wolves in the Eiffel Mountains in Germany?

Question

Hi, I need someone to settle an argument for me. I've been told that there are Wolves in the countryside around the Nurburgring in the Eiffel Mountains, Germany. I've done some searching online and read that Wolves are near extinct in Germany, however my uncle is sure he saw one near his home in Katzwinkel. Which one of us is right lol?

Answer 1

Well, the "Eifel" mountains do only have one "f", opposite to the "Eiffel"-tower in Paris, whose constructor was named in this way.

Wolves disappeared in the Eifel mountains by the end of the 17th century and were never ever seen after that.

Wolves however, are reinstituted in the eastern part of Gernany, like Saxonia and as well in parts of Poland and Austria.

When your uncle has sawn a wolf in Katzwinkel, I am pretty sure that he wasn't sober and has seen a German Shepherd-Dog (Wolf-Hound)

Answer 2

The wolf had been extinct in Germany. When I was a little boy I was at a monument anywhere in Northrhine-Westfalia saying here the last german wolf was shot in 1800 and. He is back today. It is said, that Germany has 35 wildliving wolves. The most of them live in the east. Although there has been seen one in Lower Saxony and one in Hessia. One was killed in traffic in Schleswig-Holstein.The Eifel is the outermost west of Germany and it is hardly to believe that they are already there, but it is an wild area therefore it is not impossible --- I would not bet.

Greetings from Hamburg, Germany

Heinz

Answer 3

Your uncle. Wolves were extinct in Germany but

there are various programs to return some animals

back to the wild. Wolves are part of it. Lynx as well.

Answer 4

Your uncle may be right; there have wolves been seen in several regions of Germany, outside the National Parks. And that's alright that way; after centuries of killng wolves, they're now considered a "rare species" and can't be shot legally.

But in the Eiffel (I was there in the German army when I was young) I'd be more concerned about volcanos. Yes, those nice lakes are, as a matter of fact, CRATERS from ice age volcanos, and who knows when they'll erupt again?

But until then, enjoy.

(btw, wolves CAN swim.)

Answer 5

There's a wolvespark near Merzing/Saarland and people have seen wolves in Saxony, Thuringia. They estimate the number at 30 - 40 wolves now:

http://www.welt.de/welt_print/article208...

Sorry just found this infos in German but it's a info from today!

Was able to find a website in Englsh:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144...

Answer 6

As others have said before, wolves are coming back. Most of them have moved over the green border to Germany from the east, and settle in places like national parks or old and no longer used military training places, since those are wide open spaces with dense greenery and woods in between, where other wildlife, such as deer and hares, boars and stuff, are very succesfull in breeding.

The Eifel - well, I have not heard that there are wolfs, yet, but it could be. There, too, are large military grounds which were formerly used by the US troops, so might be that they were set out there and simply wandered out when their breeding became too successful (wolves need huge hunting areas, and usually the male young are thrown out of a group when they become old enough to be a threat to the male leader and go wandering the countryside to find others to make a pack).

SO, might be, might not be. How good is your uncle in wildlife trivia? Any chance he might be mistaking the wolve for an escaped dog (think wolfshound, Husky, mix of those?). THose should not be all that common, but some get through out there, especially in places like the Eifel, where there are wide areas without too much everyday human presence.