Zadar police are investigating the hanging of a dead wolf on a signpost at the entrance to Gracac, a town in Zadar County, while farmers said in a Facebook post that they have nothing to do with the case, calling on the state to protect them from frequent wolf attacks on their herds.

The body of the animal was found on a signpost at the eastern entrance to Gracac on Saturday morning, Zadar police said.

An on-the-spot investigation was carried out and an authorised expert of the Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry took the carcass to be autopsied at the Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Farmers urge compliance with European criteria

Members of the Facebook group “Hrvatski kraški pašnjaci” (Croatian karst pastures) said in a post that immediately after the discovery of the incident, police started a search of local farmers’ houses.

Noting that farmers were hard-working and well-meaning people and, most importantly, not armed, they said that the problem of the wolf population was serious and called on the state to protect their herds from wolf attacks.

“If the state receives sizeable funds from the EU to care for the wolf, it should do so. Wolves and farmers have been left to fend for themselves, and the state has evidently given up on us,” they warned.

They called for compliance with European criteria, noting that in Croatia the wolf lives on an area of 20,000 square kilometres and that one wolf is allowed per 10,000 head of sheep.

In karst areas there are 401,172 head of sheep, which means that in those areas there should be no more than 40 wolves, the famers say, noting that currently, there are more than 40 wolves in Gracac and nearby villages.

The wolf is a threatened species but it also poses a threat to sheep herds. According to media reports, wolves recently killed 87 head of sheep in the village of Stikada near Gracac.

Animals’ Friends: Wolf is protected with reason

The killing and brutalising of the wild animal was strongly condemned by Luka Oman of the Animals’ Friends association, who said that the wolf is jeopardised the most by prejudices and refusal to acknowledge the importance of its protection and co-existence with humans.

The association said that wolves are threatened by the disappearance of their habitat and the habitats of other animals, which can lead to their being left without food.

For example, reducing the number of roe deer with hunting can lead to wolf attacks on sheep. Wolf attacks can also happen when the protection of domestic animals is not organised well. Still, wolves are threatened the most by prejudices and refusal to acknowledge the importance of their protection and co-existence with humans, the association said.