© AFP
A wolf is suspected to have returned to Luxembourg after a calf was found devoured in Brachtenbach, sparking an investigation and DNA testing to confirm its presence.
The Nature Administration estimates that Luxembourg has once again been visited by a wolf after a calf was recently found dead in Brachtenbach, in the commune of Wincrange. The carcass in question had been largely devoured.
Experts sent to the scene took flesh samples from the calf, which will now be sent to the Senckenberg Institute in Gelnhausen, a German laboratory already consulted in relation to previous wolf sightings in the Grand Duchy. DNA results from the saliva recovered should be available "within a few weeks".
Brachtenbach, location where the dead calf was found. / © RTL
If confirmed, it would be one of several wolf sightings in Luxembourg in recent years, which is not surprising since a pack has reportedly settled in the Hautes Fagnes region of Belgium. The wolf, formerly hunted in numbers, is now protected on European territory, and Luxembourg has already adopted its very own "wolf plan".
The Nature Administration is asking the public to immediately report any wolf traces in Luxembourg (email to wolf@anf.etat.lu). Authorities do however point out that encounters with wolves are unlikely: wolves are particularly wary and will usually keep their distance from humans.
In the unlikely scenario of encountering a wolf, it is recommended that people move away slowly without fleeing, making a noise and waving their arms.
