Wolf and lynx populations have been recolonising the federal state of Lower Saxony, North Germany, continuously. The spreading has been monitored by a wildlife survey performed by hunters and Harz National Park. The hunters in Lower Saxony have mainly accepted the return of the wolf and lynx. Important reasons for this are the hunters’ involvement in the monitoring of the natural wolf repopulation and the reintroduction of the lynx in the Harz. However, the potential influence of predators on the ungulates and resulting disadvantages for the hunters are controversial as there is a lack of information about the effects of carnivores on the cultural landscape.
A citizen science program, the wildlife survey of Lower Saxony (WTE), has been continuously monitoring several game species since 1991. The holders of the hunting districts have provided estimates of wildlife; the hunting bag and the occurrence in their hunting ground (mean 474 ha) for a number of species. Furthermore, the hunters were questioned about diseases, road kills and other topics, as well as on the human dimension, e.g. hunters' opinions and attitudes. The participation of hunting district holders was high throughout the years 1991–2017; more than 90 % of the huntable area of Lower Saxony was recorded.
In this study the opinions, moods and the observations of the hunters on the roe and red deer are to be analyzed in the areas with and without wolf and / or lynx occurrences. Furthermore, the hunting bags in these areas are compared.
In addition to the occurrence of the two predators, the opinion of the hunters on the effects of wolf and lynx on roe and red deer was polled. In recent years, there was a much lower visibility of roe deer in the hunting districts where the wolf or lynx permanently or frequently occurred. In the hunting areas with lynx occurrences, 44 % of the hunters believe to observe fewer roe deer, compared to 16 % without lynx. In the wolf areas, the opinions are comparable (49 % with wolf, 10 % without wolf).
Whether these observations are actually attributable to the presence of wolves, or can be attributed to other factors (diseases, misjudgments, etc.), will continue to be open to discussions.
For the years 2009–2014, the preliminary statistical analysis in R (mixed models with hunting district as random factor) of the roe deer hunting index in areas with and without wolf or lynx occurrences show partly significant decreases in the hunting bags. In the Lueneburg Heath region in hunting districts with regular wolf occurrences, the hunting bag decreases more than in areas without wolf.
Because wolves and lynx are increasingly found in the hunting districts, surveys are especially valuable for monitoring the connection between hunting statistics and population data. Using this data, it can be assessed which effects occur over large areas, and which are in fact due to the presence of predators, as well as what influences the "perceived" effects have. Both are crucial for the acceptance of carnivores among rural actors.
Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Large Carnivores in Europe , Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: “Other” Species in Europe
