Special regulations: Wolf in Brandenburg hunting law

“Our goal is to be more capable of acting by transferring wolf management into hunting law and thus be able to remove wolves that cause damage more easily,” said Agriculture Minister Hanka Mittelstädt (SPD). “Under the regulations of species protection law in Germany, this was often too lengthy, bureaucratic and increasingly associated with great legal uncertainty.”

New regulations also in the federal government

At the beginning of March, the Bundestag decided to make it easier to shoot wolves. The background is the protection of grazing animals – for example when wolves overcome fences and kill animals. However, the Federal Council still has to agree before the new regulation can come into force. This item is on the agenda for the meeting on March 27th.

With the inclusion of wolves in the Federal Hunting Act, the federal states have the opportunity to reduce the number of wolves in regions with high populations in order to protect grazing animals. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, if the wolf is included in the Federal Hunting Act, a management plan should regulate the conditions and processes for wolf hunting.

Coordination with neighbors

According to the minister, Brandenburg is currently coordinating with neighboring states such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony on how the federal regulations can be implemented in a practical and legally secure manner.

Brandenburg is considered one of the states with the most packs in Germany. The wolf is strictly protected; there are repeated deaths of farm animals such as sheep and goats. The shooting of wolves is controversial. The nature conservation association Nabu rejects wolf hunting and is calling for protests.