Overview
- A ministry spokesman said the goal is to protect grazing herds by permitting culls in areas where protective fencing is not feasible, citing 2024 reports of 279 damage cases and 1,047 animals lost or injured.
- Minister Alois Rainer’s plan rests on three pillars: rapid removal of problem wolves, population management, and hunting where animals become dangerous.
- The federal approach would follow an EU status downgrade and add wolves to the Federal Hunting Law, enabling states to designate grazing areas for legal removals.
- Brandenburg minister Hanka Mittelstädt favors intervention zones and adding wolves to hunting law after a stakeholder meeting indicated support for zones rather than quotas.
- Conservation groups call for fully funded fencing and guardian dogs, hunting associations seek population limits and a permanent season, and controversy grew after state secretary Gregor Beyer floated a 15% cull and then requested reassignment.