Overview

• The Landesjagdverband Hessen initiated a legal review of the BVW project, and the Regierungspräsidium Kassel confirmed receipt of the filing and said it will examine the case.
• The authority said it will consult BVW and the city of Kassel before deciding on further steps, and no decision has been announced.
• Since early August, teams have been trapping raccoons in Kassel, surgically sterilizing them with about 30 volunteers and 10 veterinarians, then releasing the animals.
• BVW says the effort is accompanied by University of Bonn scientists, is permitted and EU-compliant, and aims to stabilize numbers before reducing the population by roughly 20 percent.
• The hunting association argues the method lacks required animal-welfare and animal-experiment approvals, says releasing invasive raccoons violates EU and German law, and cites Goethe University research challenging key assumptions as Hesse moves to allow year-round raccoon hunting.