Germany: Hobby hunter shoots at girl

The Gera public prosecutor's office has filed charges against a hobby hunter who allegedly shot and seriously injured a six-year-old girl.

The 32-year-old is accused of negligent bodily harm, according to the spokesperson for the Gera District Court, Siegfried Christ.

In July 2018, he allegedly fired a shot near an allotment garden area while participating in a hunt in Grosssaara (Greiz district).

As it turned out, a group of hobby hunters had been taking part in a so-called harvest hunt near the site. During this type of hunt, wildlife killers wait at the edge of a field during harvest work for startled animals to come within range of their guns.

The girl was struck and seriously injured in her arm and hip. According to earlier reports, she survived thanks to emergency surgery.

However, she continues to suffer from the consequences to this day. According to Christ, a date for the start of the trial has not yet been set.

«How many more people must be seriously injured or killed before hobby hunting is finally banned? Year after year, countless tragedies occur because trigger-happy hobby hunters shoot recklessly in the area. It is long overdue for lawmakers to step in and put an end to this. For forest animals too, hunting is quite literally a state of permanent terror.»

Nadja Michler, wildlife policy expert at PETA

Around half of Germans oppose hobby hunting

Hobby hunters kill not only more than five million wild animals annually; serious hunting accidents also occur repeatedly. A representative Forsa survey conducted in 2018 on behalf of PETA confirms that around half of German citizens — 49 percent — oppose hobby hunting. The more than 380’000 hobby hunters in Germany are faced with only around 1’000 professional hunters, mainly forestry officials. In its current form, hunting involves numerous cruel practices, such as the training of hunting dogs on live animals, earth hunting, and trap hunting, in which many animals are literally crushed to death each year. Particularly during driven hunts — which also result in many human casualties — up to two-thirds of wild animals do not die immediately, according to the Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare. With shattered bones and severe wounds, the animals often hide for days and die in agony.

Hunting is unnecessary from a wildlife biology perspective

Recognised wildlife biologists confirm that hunting is not necessary from an ecological standpoint. According to the renowned biologist Prof. Dr. Josef Reichholf, wolves, for example, do not need to be replaced by human hobby hunters, as animal populations living in forests regulate themselves through environmental influences such as weather, food availability, and disease. The Canton of Geneva, where hobby hunting has been banned for over 45 years, is just one example of this. Here, nature primarily regulates itself — the result being high biodiversity and healthy, stable wildlife populations.

Biologist Dr. Karl-Heinz Loske views hunting as a superfluous hobby that serves to satisfy the hunting urges of recreational hunters. When he obtained a hunting licence in his younger years, it quickly became clear to him that it had little to do with nature conservation or species protection. Today, Dr. Loske is a recognised expert in landscape ecology, for whom hunting is ecologically and morally indefensible.