The German parliament voted on Thursday to amend regulations, radically simplifying the procedures for culling wolves. The new law reclassifies the species as game, ending decades of strict species protection. This decision is a direct response to the growing number of attacks on livestock and pressure from farming communities, particularly in northern states and Bavaria, where record losses among sheep farmers have been recorded.
Change in Legal Status
The wolf has been officially included in German hunting law, enabling regular hunts instead of individual permits.
Support from Opposition AfD
The ruling coalition passed the law thanks to unexpected support from the AfD, which caused controversy in parliament.
Protests from Environmentalists
Organizations such as WWF criticize the new law, warning of the breakup of packs and an escalation of human-nature conflicts.
Implementation in the States
Bavaria and northern states, most affected by attacks on sheep, plan the fastest implementation of culling facilitations.
The German Bundestag has made a landmark decision to include the wolf in federal hunting law, which in practice means the end of the predator's previous status as a species under absolute protection. The amendment, passed with votes from the ruling coalition of the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP, with unexpected support from the opposition AfD, paves the way for regular and systematic hunts. The previous procedure for eliminating individuals posing a threat was extremely complicated and required each time proving that other herd protection methods, such as fencing or guard dogs, had failed. State governments now have broad powers to independently regulate population numbers in their territories, primarily aimed at protecting farmers' interests. Wolves were completely eradicated in Germany in the 19th century due to mass hunting and habitat destruction. The species' return began only in 2000 when the first packs migrating from Polish territory were observed in Saxony. The legal change provoked an immediate and fierce reaction from environmental organizations. Representatives of WWF and other conservation associations warn that the new regulations could destabilize the social structures of packs. Experts point out that the uncontrolled removal of adult individuals often leads to the breakup of family groups, which paradoxically may increase aggression from young, inexperienced wolves towards livestock. In 2025 alone, still under the old law, 25 animals were preemptively killed, which, according to ecologists, demonstrated the effectiveness of existing intervention tools without the need for mass hunting. The parliamentary debate was highly emotional, with opponents of the reform emphasizing that the wolf is a keystone species for maintaining biological balance in German forests. Wolf protection in Europe is based on the 1979 Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive, which recognize this species as a priority for preserving biodiversity in member states. The federal government counters these accusations, arguing that the wolf population in Germany has already reached a stable state that guarantees the species' survival without maintaining restrictive bans. Statistics from early 2026 show a worrying upward trend in attacks on sheep and cattle, especially in regions such as Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Bavaria has already announced the swift implementation of the new legal tools to protect traditional alpine pasture farming, which has become economically unviable for many local farmers due to the presence of predators. However, it should be noted that the amendment may face a legal challenge at the European level. Critics warn that classifying the wolf as game is in open contradiction with EU law, which could end with intervention from the European Commission and a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Meanwhile, farmers are celebrating the success, seeing the Bundestag's decision as a chance to save their farms from losses resulting from the predator's expansion.