Ahead of the Federal Council’s final vote on including the wolf in the Federal Hunting Act tomorrow, Friday (March 27), the German Animal Welfare Federation is appealing to the states to seize this last chance to at least tone down the most problematic aspects of the draft legislation, which violates animal welfare principles. For the association, the vote marks a dark day for animal and species conservation. The opening of the wolf hunt is a symbol of deeply populist campaign politics that prioritizes lobby interests over science, EU law, and values enshrined in the Basic Law. Once the law takes effect, the federal states will be responsible for its implementation through their respective state hunting laws, and many have already made provisions for this. Starting July 1, according to the new law, wolves—and especially wolf pups—could be legally killed in Germany for the first time in over a century, indiscriminately and without cause.
“This law reads like a carte blanche for hunters who can hardly wait to shoot their first wolves—whether pups, parents, or pack leaders. Given that the German Hunting Association essentially dictated the terms, this comes as no surprise. The fact that well-founded objections and concerns from the scientific community, animal welfare and nature conservation groups, as well as applicable European law, were ignored remains unprecedented and shocking,” comments Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation. He demands: “The states must now exercise the utmost care when incorporating the wolf into their state hunting laws. Blanket culls and hunting methods that violate animal welfare must be prevented.”
WOLF PUPPIES AND PARENTS IN THE CROSSHAIRS STARTING THIS SUMMER
One of the most critical aspects of the law specifically permits hunting between July and October, when wolf pups are in some cases still being nursed by their mothers and fed by the pack. Provided the so-called conservation status of the wolf population is defined as “favorable,” indiscriminate and unprovoked culling—particularly of pups—is to be permitted. The German Animal Welfare Federation criticizes this as “highly unethical.” If dominant, adult animals are shot, this can destroy the social structure of the pack. Young animals that are still dependent on their parents may starve. The law makes no mention whatsoever of protecting parent animals. Even in areas where the conservation status of the wolf is explicitly “unfavorable,” following the killing of a grazing animal, any wolf may be shot for six weeks within a 20-kilometer radius—an area of over 1,000 square kilometers—“to prevent economic damage.” Because blanket hunting has been proven not to prevent attacks on grazing animals, the German Animal Welfare Federation points out that herd protection measures must absolutely be promoted more strongly. This is also what the federal government explicitly asks of the states in its resolution on herd protection. “Revealing,” says Schröder. “The supposedly high costs of subsidies and compensation payments had just served as an excellent pretext for the necessary hunting of wolves. The government makes no secret of its shameless gift to farmers and hunters.”
