Overview

• On June 30, 2025, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of Limburg-Weilburg rejected the city’s application to catch and kill 200 urban pigeons
• Limburg’s culling initiative had been endorsed by a November 2023 council resolution and affirmed in a June 2024 citizen referendum
• In March 2025 the Hessian Environment and Agriculture Ministry reversed a 2022 decree, restoring city pigeons’ status as protected wild animals
• Federal law requires an exception permit for lethal measures against wild species, which hinges on demonstrating ‘substantial common economic damage’
• The city now faces the choice of proving significant economic harm or abandoning lethal control and pursuing nonlethal pigeon management options