Following an incident on Monday evening in Hamburg‑Altona, a wolf that tried to break a woman free from an enclosure guarded by automatic doors bit her face. Helmut Dammann‑Tamke, president of the German Hunting Association (DJV), has called for decisive action in an interview with Bild’s Wednesday paper.
The wolf was captured without sedation and temporarily housed at the wildlife enclosure in Klövensteen, Rissen. Dammann‑Tamke now demands that it be either euthanised or released on the outskirts of Hamburg equipped with a transmitter collar. He says the decision rests with politicians: “Keeping a wild animal in captivity is no option from an animal‑welfare perspective. Either we euthanise the wolf or we re‑introduction it; if the latter is chosen, we require a transmitter collar. If further incidents follow, decisive action must be taken”.
In the Bild article, he notes that “the wolf must either be shot or it must remain an example”. The association’s head referred to a 2016 case in Lower Saxony where a wolf named Kurti was killed after a series of close encounters with walkers who had dogs; Kurti had been fitted with a transmitter collar, which proved to be an identifiable factor.
“Now we have to ensure a conflict‑free coexistence of humans, wolves, and livestock” Dammann‑Tamke added. He argues that wolves in Germany must learn to keep distance, and highlights that only the lethal removal of single animals can set a precedent that shapes the behavior of an entire pack.
