Wolves spreading across Germany – Surprisingly fast

Wolves are recolonizing Germany

Six wolves were fitted with GPS transmitters Saxony to find out when young wolves leave their parental packs. The data was collected between 2009 and 2011.

Modellings estimate that their is sufficient lowland habitat potential in Germany for approximately 440 wolf packs; Additionally there would be room for plenty more in the Alps.

"This is the first study undertaken in Central Europe that tracks the movement of wolves"said BfN president Professor Dr. Beate Jessel.

70 kilometres per day

The results astonished many of the scientists. The wolves travelled as much as 70 km per day, crossing rivers and motorways as well as a wide range of habitats. The study shows individual differences in the walking behaviour of the animals. While a young male wolf left his pack in Belarus at just 12 months old, and travelled an amazing 1,550 km, a female wolf remained with her pack for more than two years.

Territory sizes varied from 49-375 km2, which corresponds to an average territory size of 172 km2. Within their territories the wolves were very flexible, spending time in forest areas but also in open areas such as heathland.

More unusually, even longer stays have been noted along traffic routes. An adult female with a transmitter, and several young wolves made their home just 500 metres from a busy road in several caves that they used to raise their young.

Adaptable to modern landscapes
"Surprisingly, wolves are not reliant on wilderness, but given the chance they can spread also in our modern landscape surprisingly rapidly, adapting to a variety of different habitats "said the BfN president. "One should expect that wolves could appear almost anywhere in Germany.

"It is just 11 years since the first wolf pack was discovered in Germany since in the middle of the 19th century when wolves were exterminated in Germany. Those wolves had migrated from Poland, and today it is believed that 12 packs of wolves as well as several pairs and single animals live in Germany, and a recent sighting of a wolf in Belgium was probably that of a wolf that had migrated from Germany.