Up until the 19th century, wolves were relatively plentiful in Luxembourg. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period, the French termed Luxembourg the pays des loups, the "land of wolves".[1]
Last wolf in Luxembourg
editUntil 2015, it was believed that the last wolf in Luxembourg was shot on 24 April 1893 in the forest of Olingen near the roman road by the judge Édouard Wolff.[2] New findings indicate that wolves appeared later in Luxembourg. On 20 February 1895, a wolf in the vicinity of Schoenfels, which was in poor health, was shot. In May 1899, three young wolves were found in the Grünewald forest near the city of Luxembourg, which had eaten poisoned meat: two were dead, and the third was saved.[3]
During the First World War, wolves were reported again in Luxembourg: in November-December 1914 near Aspelt and Insenborn, in January-February 1917 in the Diekirch area, and then sporadically throughout the country. Whether these were actual wolves or just large dogs is difficult to ascertain on a case-by-case basis.[3]
On 28 February 1920, in the forest between Berg (municipality of Betzdorf) and Buchholz (municipality of Flaxweiler), a wolf, which had been caught in a trap, was shot by the gamekeeper of Berg Castle. Two experts from the forestry administration and the state veterinarian Emile Moutrier examined the animal and identified it as a wolf.[3]
After that, no wolves were sighted for about 90 years.
Return
editIn July 2011, for the first time in 110 years, a wolf was seen again in the Belgian municipality of Gedinne, in Namur Province.[4] In February 2014, one or more specimens were observed in several locations in the French Moselle department, near Lorquin and Walscheid.[5] As a reappearance of the wolf in Luxembourg could no longer be ruled out,[6][7] the Secretary of State for the Environment, Camille Gira, developed an action plan in 2017 outlining what measures to take if such an event did occur.[8]
In September 2017, a DNA analysis confirmed that it was a wolf that had attacked eight sheep between Garnich and Holzem a few weeks earlier. This wolf belonged to a population known to inhabit the Italian and French Alps, as well as having been sighted in the Vosges, Lorraine, and Rhineland-Palatinate.[9][10] It seemed that the wolf had returned to Luxembourg after nearly 100 years. In February 2018, the presence of a wolf in Fouhren was confirmed, and possibly in the Koerich-Septfontaines area in December 2018.[11] In April 2020, in the vicinity of Niederanven, where three sheep were presumably attacked by a wolf, which belonged to the Central European lowland population that has spread from Poland through Northern Germany and the Benelux countries. This confirms that in Luxembourg and its neighboring regions, the two population groups from the Alpine region and the Central European lowland have merged.[12][13]
In the winter of 2021-22, the presence of another wolf was confirmed in the Belgian border area north of Wincrange, from which it is assumed that it attacked a sheep there in the summer.[14]
In December 2022, a killed sheep was found in the area of Troisvierges, which suggested the presence of a wolf.[15] A specially trained dog for wolf detection further strengthened this suspicion, which was classified as an unconfirmed clue C3.[16]
On 22 January 2023, a male wolf from the Central European population was confirmed in Troine.[17]
On 1 August 2023, the Nature Administration confirmed that in July a wolf attacked a sheep in the area of Lieler. According to population analysis, it was a wolf from the Central European population, whose distribution center extends from the Vistula River in central Poland to Lower Saxony.[18]
On 22 August 2023, the Nature Administration reported that a wolf was sighted in mid-August in the areas of Echternach and Beaufort. Whether it is the same wolf is not known.[19][20]
Footnotes
edit- ^ Betz, J (1 July 1954). "La psychologie du soldat luxembourgeois au cours des siècles". T'Hémecht. 7 (3/4): 258.
- ^ On the memorial plaque installed by the Saint Hubert Club in 1937, it wrongly states that this occurred in 1892
- ^ a b c Massard 2015.
- ^ "Le loup est de retour en Belgique... après un siècle." lesoir.be, 22 September 2011, 21:41.
- ^ "Ein Wolf in Lothringen?" wort.lu, 20.02.14, 11:06.
- ^ Cf. Schley, L. & R. Reding, 2014. Auf dem Weg in die Grossregion: Der Wolf steht vor unserer Haustür. Regulus 4: 4-7.
- ^ Question écrite n°727 - Sujet: le retour du loup en Europe.
- ^ "Lëtzebuerg ass prett: De Wollef ka kommen! Aktiounsplang ass do". RTL (in Luxembourgish). 11 February 2017.
- ^ "Erster offizieller Wolfsnachweis in Luxemburg seit 124 Jahren". environnement.public.lu (in German). 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Schley, L. & J. Herr, 2017. Erster Wolfsnachweis in Luxemburg seit 124 Jahren (sic). Cf. Literatur.
- ^ "Konkreter Wolfshinweis im Westen Luxemburgs". gouvernement.lu (in German). 19 December 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ "Bestätegung: Et war e Wollef, deen Enn Abrëll 3 Schof am Raum Nidderaanwen gerass huet". RTL (in Luxembourgish). 13 May 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Hermes, S. "Ein Wolf als Täter. Genetische Analysen bestätigen: Raubtier für Schafrisse im Raum Niederanven verantwortlich". Luxemburger Wort, 14 May 2020, p. 24.
- ^ "Die Sichtung eines Wolfs ist nachgewiesen." wort.lu, 11.01.2022.
- ^ "Totes Schaf, Mögliche Wolfsanwesenheit bei Ulflingen". Luxemburger Wort (in German). 27 December 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Wolfsmanagement, SCALP-Kriterien" (in German).
- ^ "D'Naturverwaltung confirméiert: Am Raum Tratten war e Wollef ënnerwee". rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). 16 February 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Eindeutiger Wolfsnachweis im Raum Lieler". Ministère de l’Environnement, du Climat et de la Biodiversité (in German). 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Eindeutige Wolfsnachweise im Osten Luxemburgs". Ministère de l’Environnement, du Climat et de la Biodiversité (in German). 22 August 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Wollef am Oste vum Land gefilmt: "D'Verhale vum Déier deit drop hin, datt et e Wollef ass"". rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). 24 August 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
References and further reading
edit- Balafré und das Wolfsrudel im Merscher Wald (PDF). August 2019. ISBN 9789995991722.
- Delguste-Van der Kaa, Marie-Hélène (2003). Histoire des loups dans les deux Luxembourg. Rossignol: Histoire Collective.
- Faber, Ernst (30 December 1908). "Der Wolf, seine Lebensweise und frühere Verbreitung im Grossherzogtum". Bulletins mensuels Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois (in German). 2 (12): 411ff.
- Hilgert, Romain (19 April 2013). "Vom Ungeziefer zum Umweltmenetekel". d'Lëtzebuerger Land (in German). Archived from the original on 15 May 2013.
- Massard, Jos. A. (1995). "Wolfsschlucht und Wolfsgeschichten: Wölfe im Kanton Echternach". Annuaire de la Ville d‘Echternach 1994 (PDF) (in German). pp. 239–272.
- Massard, Jos. A., 2015. "Der Mythos vom letzten Wolf in Luxemburg. Der 1893 bei Olingen erlegte Wolf war nicht der letzte. Wölfe traten noch viel später als bisher angenommen in Luxemburg auf. Eine Aufarbeitung in drei Teilen" — Part I: Lëtzebuerger Journal 2015, No. 258 (5 November): 19. — Part II: Lëtzebuerger Journal 2015, No. 259 (6 November): 19 ("Der Erste Weltkrieg brachte die Wölfe zurück"). — Part III: Lëtzebuerger Journal 2015, No. 260 (7 November): 19 ("1920 – Ein Wolf bei Berg"). Expanded online version.
- Nonet, Erwan (24 September 2023). "Le loup, pas si méchant que ça…". Le Quotidien (in French).