Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting in response to livestock bloodlust'

"The draft law, which animal protection groups had lobbied against, cleared the Bundestag on Thursday with votes from the centre-right led governing coalition and the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party, which has long called for the killing wolves to protect farmers' livelihoods."

"The legislation would permit Germany's 16 states to allow wolf hunting from July to October in regions where the population of the animals is particularly dense. Wolves found to have previously killed or attacked farm animals would be cleared to be shot regardless of their conservation status or the season."

"Hermann Farber of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the senior party in the coalition, told the chamber a new balance was needed in the German ecosystem. The suffering of grazing animals, which are often killed in the bloodlust of wolves, no longer has anything to do with animal welfare, he said."

Germany's lower house of parliament approved legislation permitting wolf hunting in response to a rapidly expanding wolf population and increased livestock attacks. The issue has become politically divisive, separating left-wing parties from right and far-right factions, and urban western regions from rural eastern areas where wolves concentrate. The draft law, opposed by animal protection groups, passed with support from the centre-right governing coalition and the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party. The legislation allows Germany's 16 states to permit wolf hunting from July to October in densely populated wolf regions, and permits year-round shooting of wolves with documented histories of killing or attacking livestock. The law implements an EU amendment allowing exceptions to species protection, following a 2022 incident when a wolf killed a pony belonging to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

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