Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Assasins in the wood of East Bavaria

Corpses litter the ground in the woods East Bavaria - fox, lynx, eagle stone martins and the dead. All of them deliberately poisoned or illegally shot dead by an unknown assassin, Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote on Thursday.

In one of the most shocking incidents to date, a woman endangered lynx was shot in early May in Bodenmais region near the Czech border. When her body was found, it was discovered he had almost gave birth to three babies.

In other cases, the entire group of birds of prey, foxes and martins stones have been found poisoned in the forest. Such crimes against protected species can carry a prison sentence of up to five years, say conservationists - if only the culprit could be arrested.

But the local police registered a case only odd here and there, and most of them are not able to connect together across the region, making it difficult to produce any idea of ​​where the poisoner, hunters and poachers will strike next, the newspaper said.

Now an umbrella group of conservationists, hunters and tourism representatives have come together to demand a police unit specialized center dedicated to investigating crimes in the woods.

"It's a scandal if strictly protected species such as the lynx was abolished by illegal shooting," said Claus Obermaier, from Gregor Louisoder Environment Institute in Munich is responsible for coordinating group paper umbrella.

Under the motto "! Matter of Honour Stop Environmental Crime," the group has filed a petition to parliament calling for the Bavarian region crack team of rangers - along the lines of similar squads are operating in the UK and Austria.

Obermaier said crimes - many of which are not currently detectable in the woods - should receive harsher penalties and more consistent as a deterrent to others