The CDU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is pushing for parliamentary scrutiny regarding a recent attempt by a private group to rescue the walrus named “Timmy” following the operation’s failure. Daniel Peters, the CDU’s top candidate for the region, told the “Focus” that Parliament must address this incident.
According to Peters, the criticism isn’t limited to Environmental Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) for allegedly allowing the protected animal into the hands of “a questionable private initiative”. Furthermore, the CDU strongly criticizes that this initiative was permitted to dig within a nature reserve. The CDU argues that any such action connected to an economic investment should require a multi-year approval process, but in this case, it was fast-tracked.
Peters described the operation as “the most expensive animal torture in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany”. He claimed that Backhaus disregarded expert advice and instead authorized the actions of “a circle of self-absorbed esotericists who lacked any marine biology knowledge”.
Shifting to a broader environmental focus, while it is uncommon for walruses to stray into the Baltic Sea, dozens of porpoises are found dead on the German Baltic coast each year-and some studies suggest hundreds of fatalities annually in the western Baltic. The primary threat to these marine mammals is often gillnets made of fine nylon thread, which are nearly invisible to the whales while assisting with echolocation. When porpoises get entangled, they cannot surface to breathe and drown. Populations of porpoises in the central Baltic Sea are severely endangered, while stocks in the western Baltic are also showing a marked decline.
