Hundreds of poaching cases uncovered in Hesse
Hundreds of cases of poaching have been uncovered in Hesse. According to experts, the number of unreported cases is significantly higher than the official figures.
In recent years, there have been hundreds of registered cases of poaching in Hesse.
Hesse is a state in central Germany known for its forests and its capital city, Wiesbaden (area: 21,115 km²).
From 2015 to 2021, a total of 1,395 cases involving 774 killed animals were recorded in the police crime statistics, according to a response from Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) to a parliamentary inquiry from the SPD. This concerned 416 cases of hunting-related poaching during the period, involving, for example, rabbits, red deer or wild boar. In 979 cases, it involved fish poaching.
«Poaching constitutes a criminal offence», Beuth's response states. It can affect wild animals through disturbances or the disregard of hunting and animal welfare regulations. Examples include ignoring closed seasons, using banned live traps, or violating protections for animals rearing young.
Whether the respective suspect holds a weapons permit or a hunting licence is not a nationally standardised recording criterion in the police crime statistics.
As a preventive measure against poaching, the presence of hunters in the hunting grounds is the best way to prevent hunting-related poaching. Further preventive measures are difficult to implement. «The authorities are always dependent on tips and reports of suspicious activity from hunters or third parties», the response continues. Of the 416 cases of hunting-related poaching, 125 were solved.
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More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
All articles are written by IG Wild beim Wild as well as by external co-authors. Research, structuring and editorial processes may be supported by AI-assisted tools.
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