Lupus Repel

Lupus Repel: Safeguarding grazing livestock through applied wildlife management

Challenge

The wolf continues to spread! Since the beginning of March 2020, after 150 years, in addition to various runaways, there are now also the first sedentary wolves in Hessen. The population increase presents grazing livestock farmers with new economic challenges and a great emotional burden. The usual herd protection measures are usually associated with high financial costs and are not always unproblematic and efficient. This makes the search for an alternative essential.

Planned innovation & aims

The use of volatile organic compounds for olfactory deterrence of wolves, which is the aim of the innovation project, has many advantages: Independence from the terrain and applicability for migratory herds, high user-friendliness, economic affordability and environmental compatibility. Free-living carnivores, especially predators such as the wolf, ensure their survival by hunting and scenting danger, which is directly related to the effectiveness of their olfactory perception. By irritating the nasal areas, the aim is to disrupt the wolf's hunting cascade. This is intended to reduce the attractiveness of livestock, which avoids entering the pasture and thus possible livestock kills.
The aim is to prevent free-ranging wolves from entering pasture areas by continuously exposing them to certain natural substances via dispensers by creating an olfactory barrier. The handling of the procedure should involve a maximum of minimal effort for the animal keeper. Grazing livestock makes an indispensable contribution to landscape management and nature conservation. Through the innovation project, it may be possible to develop a future-oriented deterrent, which creates a real alternative and/or supplement to conventional herd protection measures, which will significantly reduce the burden on grazing livestock farmers.

Implementation

Based on the current state of knowledge, a wolf deterrent is to be developed. For this purpose, the deterrence performance of defined candidate substances is determined and the dose-effect optimum is determined. Field trials with wolves will be carried out and the reaction of livestock to the candidate substances will be determined. Furthermore, the dispenser methodology will be addressed.

Lead Partner

Justus-Liebig-University, Professorship of Organic Farming with focus on sustainable soil use

Dr. Konstantin Becker

MSc. Luisa Traut

Operational Group

Dipl.-Biol. Johannes Lang (JLU Arbeitskreis Wildtierforschung der Klinik für Vögel, Reptilien, Amphibien und Fische)

Duration of the project

01.01.2020 - 20.06.2023

Funding

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