This computer tomography image (produced by the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin) clearly shows the cluster of lead shot in the stomach region of a wolf. The dead wolf was found by chance by a hiker in January 2009 in Saxony, Germany. The evidence from this imagery clearly proves that the wolf has been illegally shot. It could have lived for several days with such a wound. Illegal killing is very difficult to obtain data on, but the accumulation of data from across Europe reveals that it is widespread.
Text: John Linnell / Photo: LUPUS / IZW