Overview
- Hamburg now pays €14 per animal after doubling its bounty in December, and local bodies such as Grevesmühlen’s water association offer about €8 to offset costs.
- More than 117,500 nutria were killed nationwide in the 2023/24 hunting year, the highest total recorded by hunting statistics.
- Schleswig-Holstein permits year-round hunting, and the German Hunting Association is urging the species’ inclusion in federal hunting law.
- Monitoring data show nutria present in about 35% of participating hunting areas in 2023, roughly twice the share reported in 2015.
- Hunters use TÜV-reviewed live traps before shooting, some carcasses are processed for food by licensed kitchens, and PETA criticizes the culling as addressing symptoms rather than causes.