Germany’s 'First Wild Bison in 250 Years’ Shot by Authorities

The Local ^ | 18 September 2017 | Lucinda Watts

[nickcarraway]

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced on Friday that it is filing charges against an official in eastern Germany who ordered hunters to shoot a bison he claimed was a danger to the public. The conservationists say it was the first wild bison seen in Germany in two and a half centuries.

"Giving permission to shoot a strongly protected animal without a clear potential threat is a criminal offence,” Chris Heinrich, a WWF board member said in a statement which explained why they decided to file charges against the head of a public order office in Brandenburg.

“After more than 250 years a wild bison had been spotted again in Germany and all the authorities could think to do is shoot it.”

A man had spotted the European bison next to the river Oder near the town of Lebus on Wednesday and alerted the authorities, according to police.

The head of the local public order office decided that the bison needed to be killed in order to protect the population and instructed two local hunters to kill the beast on Thursday.

According to Polish authorities, the animal was probably a bull which had been running around the Ujście Warty National Park on the German-Polish border for some time before wandering into the Bundesrepublik.

The European bison is Europe’s largest land mammal and has not been seen in the wild in Germany for over 250 years. They are considered “vulnerable” by conservation bodies internationally and are on the list of Germany’s “strongly protected animals”.

The bison are not known to be dangerous, Brandenburg's Environment Minister Jörg Vogelsänger told Der Tagesspiegel. If they were, then “half of Poland, where the animal is a national symbol, would have to be declared a danger zone,” as they roam freely there, he said.

A spokesperson for the Environment Ministry also suggested that a tranquiliser dart could have been used to neutralise any danger to nearby citizens, which could have been provided by any country vet.

Heinrich blamed a “lack of professionally trained staff in the area”. he added that "the state of Brandenburg has proven itself to be less than professional in its treatment of wild animals in the past, as shown by how it deals with wolves and elk."

[The Toll]

Buffalo Riots!!

[Fiddlstix]

Rim Shot

Click the Pic

[nickcarraway]

I didn’t know Sasquatches did rumspringa?

[Eagles6]

Thanks. Yeah, I was surprised about the Euro bison too.

[katana]

Bison are not cattle. Never have been, never will be. If they can’t fence it into an adequate open range then you might as well be letting elephants and rhinos loose across the German countryside.

[MrEdd]

Don’t harsh their self-righteous buzz man.

[rfp1234]

So did Mussolini.

[katana]

Yo, Dude, yeah, whatever, OK, cool!

[Pearls Before Swine]

Re rumspringa:

I didn’t want to go there. The Amish get all too much coverage on FR.

[IYAS9YAS]

Where have they been hiding out for 250 years?

In the credenza with the Belmonts? Behind the couch with Bob?

http://dilbert.com/strip/1993-06-04

[pepsi_junkie]

The bison are not known to be dangerous, Brandenburg's Environment Minister Jörg Vogelsänger told Der Tagesspiegel. If they were, then “half of Poland, where the animal is a national symbol, would have to be declared a danger zone,” as they roam freely there, he said.

They are super rare because they haven't been spotted in Germany in over 250 years. Yet they are perfectly safe because they're running around all over Poland and they don't kill people. So plenty in Poland, not many in Germany. In other words they aren't actually rare or endangered.

Having a hard time getting fired up about this one.

[rey]

“(Don’t you just hate Tues AM QBs like me?)”

No. The left has taught me not to hate (did you just choke on your beverage?). As Lenin said, “All we need is love.” I can’t remember if it was Vladimir or John, not that there was much of a difference, though Vladimir probably had better taste in women.

I was anxious to be among the first posts, because if you are 38th, people do not read down that far, just like they don’t read the link to the article and merely comment on the title. Your QBing will cause me to be more on my toes, next time. Thanks.

[Sivad]

It actually must have been Vlad that said “All we need
is love” because John was Lennon as opposed to Lenin.
And, personally, I hated both; Lenin because he was an
avowed commie and Lennon was a lefty (at least) and
once while drunk in a London club made cruel fun of
an American rocker, Jim Tucker, who became a friend
of mine in later years. (note: Jim has never shared
my hate for Lenin to his credit)

Thanks to you too.