The Augšdaugava local government has appealed to the State Forest Service with a request to allow the culling of two wolves outside the hunting season. The reason is the attacks on sheep in the neighboring Kraslava region and reports from residents about an unusually behaving wolf that regularly approaches people.
In the Augšdaugava region, there are concerns about the behavior of wolves, and a request has been made to allow their unplanned culling.
The Hunting Coordination Commission of the region decided to appeal to the State Forest Service with a proposal to increase the allowable limit for wolf hunting and to issue a permit for the culling of two animals outside the established hunting seasons.
The reason for this decision was reports from residents of the Bikernele parish about a wolf that has been appearing near populated areas for several weeks.
According to local residents, the predator has repeatedly approached farms, people, and agricultural machinery working in the fields. Its behavior raises particular concern: after approaching people, the wolf does not flee but begins to play with branches or stones.
The first report of such encounters came on May 8 from the villages of Osinovka and Kalabukhino. The latest sightings were recorded near the settlement of Lielie Krivini.
Experts usually consider caution to be one of the characteristic traits of wolves, so cases where a predator regularly approaches people typically attract special attention from responsible services.
An additional factor has been recent attacks on domestic animals. In the Izvalta parish of the Kraslava region, three wolf attacks were recorded within a few days, resulting in the death of more than 20 sheep. The Izvalta parish borders several parishes of the Augšdaugava region. Therefore, local authorities do not rule out the possibility that it may involve the movement of the same animals across neighboring territories.
The local government believes that the combination of attacks on agricultural animals and the atypical behavior of the wolf requires additional safety measures.
According to current regulations, hunting coordination commissions have the right to appeal to the State Forest Service with proposals to change the limits on animal hunting and to issue recommendations for regulating their populations.
This is the right that the commission exercised by making the corresponding decision on June 10.
Now the final decision rests with the State Forest Service, which must assess the situation and determine whether there are grounds for issuing a permit for the unplanned culling of two wolves.
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