Published June 26, 2023 | Version v1
Report Open

Expedition report: Love / hate relationships: Monitoring the return of the wolf to the German state of Lower Saxony (July 2020 & June/July 2022)

Creators

  • 1. Wolf Commissioner Lower Saxony
  • 2. Ministry for Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation Thuringia
  • 3. Biosphere Expeditions

Description

ABSTRACT   This report details wolf Canis lupus lupus active monitoring fieldwork by Biosphere Expeditions in collaboration with the State Wolf Bureau of the German state of Lower Saxony and local wolf commissioners. Field work was conducted from 19 to 23 July 2020 in a small group of six people due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, field work was conducted in three groups from 25 June – 1 July (10 citizen scientists), 2 – 8 July (10 citizen scientists) and 16 – 22 July (7 citizen scientists). The aim of the expeditions was to collect samples for DNA and dietary analyses. This was done by sending small groups into the field to search for scat samples.

 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the expedition team in 2020 consisted of six citizen scientists only (all from Germany, except one person from Belgium). In 2022, 24 citizen scientists took part in the expedition, 12 from Germany or its immediate neighbour states (50%), six people from the United Kingdom (25%), and one person each came from USA, Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium (4% respectively). Before commencement of field work, which was exclusively conducted on public paths and bridleways, citizen scientists were trained for 1.5 days in sample detection, sampling and data collection techniques. The study area covered various priority areas in Lower Saxony as advised or requested by the State Wolf Bureau, wolf commissioners, hunters and the State Forestry Authority. Thirty-one 10 km x 10 km grid cells of the European Environment Agency (EEA) reference grid system and almost 1087 km were surveyed on foot. Some grid cells were surveyed multiple times so that they were covered a total of 52 times.

 

349 wolf scat samples were identified during the field work in 2020 and 2022, 196 of which were included into the official wolf monitoring programme. 145 samples were frozen for dietary analysis and 22 of those were fresh enough for DNA analysis. A number of possible wolf paw prints and scats were also found, but did not pass quality assessment procedures directly after field work. One team in 2022 actually spotted an adult wolf coming towards them on a forest trail for a few seconds just before he recognized the team members. In 2022, a longer wolf track in direct registered trot as well as a wildlife carcass (mouse) were recorded additionally to the found scat and assigned to the species wolf by the official wolf monitoring.
  Twenty (5.7%) of the 349 scat samples collected were classified as C1 pieces of hard evidence on the SCALP classification system, 34 (9.7%) as C2 confirmed observation and 144 (41.3%) as C3 unconfirmed observations. The sighting in 2022 was assessed as C1 confirmed hint, based on the sighting video on hand, the wildlife carcass (mouse) was also assessed as a confirmed hint, as the species wolf could be detected based on the carcass sample.

 

The DNA analysis of the 22 genetic scat samples showed that 19 originated from wolf. 15 samples could be assigned to individual wolves. All in all, five male wolves and eight female wolves were identified, of which one male and two females could be confirmed twice.   Just like the 2017 and 2018 expeditions, the quantity and quality of samples collected by the active monitoring effort of the expeditions in 2020 and 2022 is remarkable. Official monitoring efforts in 2020 and 2022 yielded 1,201 scat samples of which 212 (18%) samples were found by the 2020 and 2022 expeditions. The expeditions also produced a considerable proportion of high-quality C1 and C2 records (22% in 2020 and 42% in 2022); this was roughly equivalent to, or higher than, records collected via the official monitoring programme separate from the expeditions (18% in 2020 and 15% in 2022). All of this shows again that with 1.5 days of training, contributions of citizen scientists towards wolf research, monitoring and conservation can be both high quality and high quantity.

 

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