Clear Evidence of Wolves in the East of Luxembourg

On Tuesday 22 August 2023, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, the Climate and the Development of Durability, together with the Administration of the Nature and Forests, confirmed that there is clear evidence of wolves in the east of Luxembourg. 

In the last two weeks, the nature administration has received two reports of possible wolf presence from the east of the country, including a video filmed in the Echternach area about two weeks ago and a camera trap image taken in the Beaufort area last week.

After consultation with international experts, the ministry stated that it can now be confirmed that a wolf can be seen in both the video and the photo. Both observations were thus classified as clear evidence. Whether it is one and the same individual can neither be confirmed nor ruled out, since in both cases there is no genetic material that could be analysed.

However, with these two new records, the number of unambiguous records of wolves in Luxembourg in 2023 increases to four. As has become a tradition, the nature administration will contact the affected municipalities in the next few days in order to organise a public information event on the subject of wolves, if necessary.

Meanwhile, member of the public are still called upon to report any presence of wolves to the nature administration for monitoring purposes (e-mail: wolf@anf.etat.lu).

The role of wolves in the ecosystem

The wolf is strictly protected throughout Europe. As a top predator, it helps regulate excessive hoofed game densities. In recent years, Luxembourg has been preparing for the possible return of the wolf and has developed clear guidelines for dealing with this species. These guidelines were set out in the Action and Management Plan for Dealing with Wolves. This plan was drawn up and presented to the public in 2017 in cooperation with representatives from agriculture, science, nature conservation, private forest owners and hunting.

The Wolf Action Plan and Code of Conduct booklet are available free of charge online and in print from the Nature Administration by tel: 247-56652 and at the Administration's Visitor Centres (Mirador in Steinfort, A Wiewesch in Manternach, Ellergronn in Esch-Alzette, Biodiversum in Remerschen and Burfelt near Insenborn). It can also be found online at www.emwelt.lu.