Overview

• The carcass was discovered on September 30 during a monitoring patrol in Elsterheide and was heavily decomposed.
• Intensified monitoring from late August logged 23 sightings up to mid-September as the animal repeatedly appeared near houses and gardens.
• Experts reported delayed reactions to stimuli and a reduced flight response consistent with age-related decline and disease.
• Authorities say health and mobility limits likely drove the wolf to seek easily accessible food and warmth such as compost heaps.
• At roughly 13 years old, the female was among the oldest recorded in Saxony’s monitoring program, with no indication of human-caused death.