Another wolf sighting in Upper Austria, this time right next to a swimming lake: A fisherman in Feldkirchen an der Donau was said to have been surprised by an Isegrim at night and fled to a fitness machine in the nearby motor skills park. It was the first time that a wolf came so close to the popular swimming lakes. A behavioral biologist is reassuring.
“The police told us that a fisherman saw a wolf at four in the morning and then fled on a wooden frame in the motorcycle skills park,” reports Franz Allerstorfer, hunting director in Feldkirchen an der Donau, to the “Krone”. The shocking moment for the disciples of St. Peter is said to have occurred on Saturday evening. The bathing lakes in Feldkirchen are not only a popular destination for swimmers, but also for fishermen – especially in spring.
“That has never happened before,” says Allerstorfer. A few years ago a wolf passed through another part of Feldkirchen, but none had been seen near the lakes. There is probably no official DNA confirmation that the animal was actually an Isegrim. The incident has already been noted as a sighting by the state’s wolf management team.
Children filmed a wolf at school
It was not the first wolf that had recently approached people in Upper Austria. For example, at the high school in St. Georgen an der Gusen, children filmed with their mobile phones how an Isegrim ran across the street in broad daylight and was almost hit by a car.
After the incident in Feldkirchen, hunting director Allerstorfer urged: “Stay on the secured trails and keep the dogs on a leash.” In principle, the wolf is a shy creature. The increased sightings recently may be young animals moving away from their parent pack and now wandering in the spring in search of a new pack.
“Making big, being threatening, unfriendly”
Behavioral biologist Kurt Kotrschal reassures about the observations: “This is nothing unusual and it is not true that there is any danger involved,” Kotrschal told the APA. If you want to scare away an Isegrim, the expert advises: “Make yourself big, be threatening, be unfriendly” – throw a stone or branch at the animal if necessary.
You shouldn’t run away, “that arouses or increases the wolves’ interest.” And: “Please do not share the snack with the wolf and do not feed the animals, because then they will lose their distance from people and these animals will have to be shot.”
Source: Krone
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