Court stops shooting plans: rooks cause excitement in Wesermarsch!

Court stops shooting plans: rooks cause excitement in Wesermarsch!

The Oldenburg administrative court has stopped the planned shooting of rooks in the Wesermarsch, meaning that residents in Nordenham, Oldenbrok (municipality of Ovelgönne) and Elsfleth will continue to have to live with the noise of the birds. The Wesermarsch district was unable to provide sufficient evidence of a health risk from the noise of the rooks, which led to this decision. The Nature Conservation Association of Lower Saxony (Nabu) had filed an application for legal protection and objected to the exemption requested by the district, which would have allowed the shooting of up to 300 rooks in three settlement areas.

The district argued that there would be a health risk to residents due to the noise made by the birds. But the court noted that the noise measurements carried out by the district could not be transferred to the sounds of living animals. In addition, the district had failed to independently examine the health risk and to look for alternative solutions to reduce noise pollution.

Political reactions and further steps

Matthias Wenholt, first district councilor, explained that the situation in the affected communities is similar, even if the exemption only applied to Ovelgönne. The district must now commission a medical report and carry out further counts and noise measurements. Discussions are planned with the affected municipalities, the state of Lower Saxony and the EU in order to develop measures to reduce noise.

Although the permit was only valid until October 15, the county originally planned to shoot up to 900 rooks. A sound measurement revealed harmful noise levels, and hunters point to a decline in ground-nesting birds due to nest raiding by crows. Jörg Kuck from the district hunters' association emphasizes that the species should not be eradicated after it almost disappeared in the 1970s and has since recovered. The approach, which NABU criticizes as breaking a taboo, primarily aims to decimate the crow population in the region.

Crows – helper or pest?

Dealing with rooks also means dealing with their impressive abilities. These intelligent and tenacious birds are protected and their habitat is increasingly restricted by intensive agriculture. Therefore, many crows find themselves in urban areas, where they often nest and settle in parks. The ZDF documentary format “planet e.” addresses this development and the special abilities of birds, including tool making and foresighted action.

Whether in Elmshorn, where people are taking their own measures to combat the growing crow population, or in other parts of Germany - how to deal with the clever birds is being discussed everywhere. Are they perceived as a noise nuisance or are they valued as considerate neighbors? The debate remains intense, while the Wesermarsch district must now find another way to relieve residents of the noise of the feathered residents.

For more information about the current situation of rooks in the Wesermarsch you can read the articles from NWZ Online, NDR and ZDF read up.