DNA confirms wolf killed 31 sheep in Styria

DNA testing has confirmed that a wolf killed 31 sheep at a well-secured pasture on the Zirbitzkogel in the Murau district, ORF reported Thursday. The attack took place in early August, and authorities are now carrying out further investigations that could lead to the wolf being authorised for culling.

Fritz Sperl, head of the security and hunting department at the Murau district authority, said the DNA showed that the animal was a wolf with ancestry from Italy. Officials will investigate whether it has killed sheep or other animals elsewhere in Styria, the neighbouring province or Italy.

The genetic material will be analysed and compared at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. A state-appointed expert is also examining the sheep carcasses and checking whether the wolf overcame the protective fencing at the pasture more than once.

Those findings are required before the wolf can be classified as a problem wolf. If all the conditions are met, it could eventually be authorised for culling, Sperl said. The results are expected in September.

Agriculture Minister Simone Schmiedtbauer said the authorities were working to clarify the incident as quickly as possible so that further measures could be taken without delay.

The culling would be the second under Styria’s new wolf regulation. In July, a wolf in Gumpeneck in the Liezen district was the first to be authorised for culling and was killed. If the wolf on the Zirbitzkogel is also authorised for culling, the permission would apply within a 10-kilometre radius of the latest attack for four weeks.