afp | The German federal government has initiated a revision of the Federal Hunting Act to facilitate a possible culling of wolves. This is intended to improve the “protection of livestock,” the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday in Berlin. “With the inclusion of wolves in the Federal Hunting Act, clear, practical rules and legal certainty come into force,” stated Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (CSU).
Concretely, the amendment to the Hunting Act approved by the federal cabinet, which the Union and SPD had already agreed in their coalition treaty, provides for a “regional population management.” This allows states where there are regions with high wolf numbers and the population is thus not considered endangered to regulate the number of wolves living there. “Within this framework, a hunting season from July 1 to October 31 is provided,” the Ministry of Agriculture explained.
Additionally, the shooting of wolves should be facilitated even independent of the respective population size – specifically when animals have already breached protective measures such as fences and have injured or killed livestock. According to the government, this would allow a “simpler, legally secure removal of wolves, regardless of their conservation status.”
In areas designated as grazing regions, with, for example, dikes or alpine meadows where protective measures such as fences are considered unreasonable, wolf culling should also be possible. The ministry said that funding for fences or guardian dogs would continue to be supported. However, trade in wolf trophies or displaying dead wolves should remain prohibited.
The background is that wolf populations in Europe have grown sharply over the past ten years — according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from a little over 11,000 animals in 2012 to more than 20,000 in 2023. In Germany, there are currently according to official figures 209 wolf packs, mainly in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, and Saxony. A pack typically consists of five to ten individuals.
Alongside this, the number of wolf attacks has also risen, the ministry noted. In 2024, around 4,300 domestic animals were killed by wolves, predominantly sheep and goats.
Under the Berner Konvention — an international treaty of the Council of Europe — the protection status of the wolf had already been downgraded in December from “strictly protected” to “protected.” This essentially established the prerequisite for a faster culling of wolves.
