Overview
- Länder will be able to set regional management plans, with a July 1–October 31 hunting season where the conservation status is deemed favorable.
- Targeted removals are allowed even under an unfavorable status if an expert confirms damage occurred despite reasonable protection, with additional permissions in unprotectable grazing areas such as alpine pastures and dikes.
- Preventive fencing and guard dogs continue to receive GAK funding, a five‑year federal review is mandated, and trade or display of wolf trophies remains banned.
- Government monitoring cites about 219 packs, 43 pairs and 14 solitary animals in 2024/25, alongside roughly 1,100 incidents in 2024 in which around 4,300 livestock were killed or injured.
- Conservation groups, pointing to BfN draft assessments, dispute the government’s “favorable” status rating and warn culling may not reduce losses, as Länder implementation, a planned roundtable and potential EU law scrutiny now loom.