Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting in response to livestock ‘bloodlust’ | Germany

Wolf hunting will be allowed in Germany under a law passed by the lower house of parliament in response to a rapidly growing population and a sharp increase in attacks on livestock.

The return and growth of the wolf population over the past three decades has become a problem in Germany, home of the Brothers Grimm who popularized the specter of the big bad wolf.

The threat posed by roving packs often pits the left against the right and the far right, as well as the densely populated west against the more rural and formerly communist east, where the wolves are concentrated.

The bill, which animal protection groups had lobbied against, was approved in the Bundestag on Thursday with votes from the center-right-led government coalition and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, which has long called for killing wolves to protect farmers’ livelihoods.

Hermann Färber of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the main coalition party, told the House that a new balance was needed in the German ecosystem. “The suffering of grazing animals, which are often killed in the bloodlust of wolves, no longer has anything to do with animal welfare,” he said.

MPs from the Greens and the far-left Linke party voted against the bill, which still needs to be passed by the upper house of the Bundesrat. The vote will be scheduled for later this month.

The legislation would allow Germany’s 16 states to authorize wolf hunting from July to October in regions where the animal population is particularly dense. Wolves that have previously killed or attacked farm animals would be allowed to be killed, regardless of their conservation status or the season.

German law implements an amendment to EU law allowing exceptions to species protection.

The change came after a debate sparked in 2022 when a wolf killed a pony named Dolly owned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen near Hanover.

Shortly after, she requested a review of the wolf’s protection status, which was ultimately downgraded.

The German Hunting Association welcomed the latest legislation. The Rural Agriculture Working Group, a farming sector lobbying organisation, called it a small contribution to protecting sheep, goats and calves after a significant increase in wolf attacks.

Around 4,300 farm animals were killed or injured by wolves in Germany in 2024, according to government statistics.

The Union for the Protection of Nature and Biodiversity (Nabu), which describes itself as Germany’s oldest and largest environmental association, urged the region’s states to block the legislation in the upper house.

“Species conservation in Germany must not be sacrificed in the name of symbolic political action,” Nabu wolf expert Marie Neuwald said in a statement. Instead of culling, comprehensive herd protection was needed with subsidies for fencing and herd protection dogs, she said.

The vote took place three days before elections in the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg, the first of Germany’s five states to hold elections this year.

The front-runner, the CDU’s Manuel Hagel, is an avid hunter and faces a tough challenge from the Green Cem Özdemir, a former federal agriculture minister, and AfD candidate Markus Frohnmaier.

The state is barely affected by the problem, but Hagel took a hard line on wolves during the campaign, saying “buckshot and lead will help” deal with the dangers they pose.

The wolf was declared extinct in Germany in the 19th century, but has made a striking comeback since 2000. An official study last year found 219 wolf packs across the country, 36 pairs and 14 individual animals. Baden-Württemberg had four lone wolves.

Shepherds are generally entitled to state compensation if wolves attack their flocks, but the bloody consequences of an ambush are described as traumatic for people who live near grazing animals.

In rural areas, previous strict rules on wolf hunting have long been cited as conservation folly, which the AfD took advantage of to win votes.

A 2022 study found a predictive link between wolf attacks and far-right voting behavior in affected regions of Germany.