282’499 dead raccoons and the population continues to grow

The German Hunting Association has published the harvest numbers for the 2024/2025 hunting year: 282'499 raccoons were killed in Germany. A shocking number and yet no evidence of successful hunting. On the contrary: the numbers increase year by year. This is no coincidence, but a biological law – and the failure of a hunting policy that stubbornly clings to outdated concepts.

Wild beim Wild Editorial Team — March 15, 2026

Animal rights organization PETA sharply criticizes the hunting associations.

«The recreational hunting community has fallen into a veritable bloodlust, but does not understand or does not want to understand that it is causing ever more damage. Their concept has clearly failed», says Peter Höffken, specialist consultant at PETA.

Biology thwarts the recreational hunting community's plans

In fact, annually rising harvest numbers confirm what science has long described: High hunting pressure leads to increased reproductive rates in raccoons. The more animals are killed, the more young are born, losses from recreational hunting are thus rapidly compensated or even overcompensated. This phenomenon of compensatory reproduction is not limited to raccoons: In wild boar, a French long-term study by Sabrina Servanty and colleagues (Journal of Animal Ecology) over 22 years shows that intensive hunting significantly increases fertility and causes sows to reach sexual maturity earlier. The more that are shot, the more animals there are. 'Intensive hunting causes the population to increase. Only a hunting moratorium can break the killing spiral,' confirms PETA representative Höffken.

Long-term research results, particularly the dissertation by Dr. Berit Michler (TU Dresden, Müritz National Park, 2006 to 2017), show that raccoons pose no significant threat to native biodiversity. On average throughout the year, their diet consists of over 50 percent soft-bodied animals such as earthworms and snails, and 32 percent plant matter. Where declines in certain species, such as the European pond turtle, are documented, humans are primarily responsible through habitat loss and the deadly danger from road traffic, not raccoons. The reptiles have thereby been driven to the brink of extinction.

Kassel shows how it can work: hunting lobby tries to stop it

The city of Kassel launched a groundbreaking pilot project in 2025 on the initiative of the Federal Association of Wildlife Rescue Services gGmbH: raccoons are captured, castrated and released. The principle is doubly effective: castrated animals can no longer reproduce, but they keep their territories occupied and thus prevent new animals from moving in. What is decisive for population spread is suitable habitat, not shooting volume.

The Hessen State Hunting Association tried to torpedo the project shortly after its start. However, the Federal Environment Ministry clarified in early 2026: The sterilization project is in accordance with EU Regulation No. 1143/2014, as it demonstrably serves population reduction. The project will continue. 'We call on hunting associations to support castration projects instead of sabotaging them,' says PETA representative Höffken. The pattern is not new: Already in Hessen, the state hunting association wanted to expand raccoon hunting, instead of giving effective alternatives a chance.

Union list as hunting free pass?

The listing of raccoons on the EU Union list of invasive species has far-reaching consequences. In several German states, closed seasons have been shortened, with the consequence that parent animals are increasingly killed during rearing and their offspring starve to death agonizingly. As wildbeimwild.com extensively explains, invasive species management is not a license to kill: The EU regulation does not primarily provide for hunting of already widely distributed species, but this is precisely how it is falsely interpreted by hunting associations and many authorities.

From a factual perspective, raccoons do not belong on the EU list of invasive species. Their listing is primarily due to the influence of hunting-affiliated groups, not on reliable scientific evidence. 'Gray squirrels, nutria and raccoons are perfect projection surfaces for a hunting policy that likes to disguise itself as ‹species protection›,' states wildbeimwild.com. The actual cause of species loss in Europe is different: Intensive agriculture and forestry contribute significantly to biodiversity loss, far more than an opportunistic omnivore. Also recreational hunting itself creates more problems than it solves.

Also in Switzerland: raccoons released for shooting

The problem is not limited to Germany. In Switzerland too, raccoons are systematically persecuted, using the same scientifically refuted arguments. Our dossier «Raccoon Switzerland: Hunting Criticism, Facts and Studies» demonstrates: Here too, the justification for hunting is «wrong origin», an argument that does not withstand scientific scrutiny. Raccoons also have a right to life, whether on this side or the other side of the Rhine. Those who seriously want to think about sustainable management of raccoons will also find practical advice on wildbeimwild.com on how to keep raccoons away in an animal-friendly manner, without resorting to lethal methods.

Science instead of shotguns

282,499 dead raccoons have not reduced the population. They have stimulated it. Those who seriously want to discuss sustainable wildlife policy must listen to science, not to recreational hunting associations that want to compensate for their failure with even more killings. The Kassel model shows: There are more humane and effective alternatives.