Hunting Law Amendment: A Catastrophe for Wildlife

The coalition mandate is to standardise hunting training nationwide, reduce lead contamination from hunting ammunition, and introduce a shooting practice certificate.

The implementation of these goals in the hunting law amendment put forward by the federal cabinet is open to debate.

From a nature conservation perspective, many people had hoped for a more radical approach to lead ammunition, which is toxic to both animals and humans. The shooting practice certificate, sold as an animal welfare measure, is half-hearted — a shooting proficiency certificate would have been more effective in terms of animal welfare.

«A catastrophe for wildlife, however, is the entire philosophy of the politicians involved,» states Lovis Kauertz, chairman of Wildtierschutz Deutschland. «Wild animals — in particular roe deer, wild boar, raccoons, and raccoon dogs — are being stigmatised as pests to be combated by all available means, either at the behest of or with the tolerance of the German Hunting Association.»

Driven Hunts: Forest Slaughterhouse Instead of Nature Conservation

What this looks like in practice can already be seen today in Bavaria or Saxony: when laying out the bag, one might think one had stumbled into a forest slaughterhouse. At Sachsenforst and the Bavarian State Forests in particular, the motto «forest before wildlife» has prevailed for years. At most driven hunts today, everything that comes before the rifle is already shot — either compelled by the professional hunters of the state forests, or for a small fee by hunting tourists from the Netherlands or Denmark, who can hardly find cheaper trophy kills anywhere than in Saxony or Bavaria. This kind of hobby hunting is not only characterised by an attitude hostile to animals and frequently contrary to animal welfare law — it is also counterproductive. More on the animal welfare problem of hobby hunting.

Recreational hunting destroys social structures and increases reproduction

Germany already has the longest hunting seasons in Europe for roe deer, red deer, and wild boar. The social structures within animal communities are the last factor potentially limiting reproduction. However, these are continuously destroyed by the indiscriminate shooting of young and old, weak and strong, male and female animals. The result can be seen in the hunting bag figures, which have been growing for decades despite intensive recreational hunting. The dossier explains why this is the case:Why recreational hunting fails as population control.

Klöckner's amendment to hunting legislation — which was essentially discussed with hunting and forestry associations, but not seriously with animal welfare or conservation groups — now even permits recreational hunting during the night, using night-vision technology and spotlights. While the Federal Hunting Act states this is only permissible for wild boar and invasive species such as raccoons or raccoon dogs, the consequences are foreseeable. Hunting pressure will increase, wildlife will suffer, and private and public forest owners will still fail to recognize that their hunting methods do not improve the profitability of their forestry operations. Forest regeneration will take place despite the campaign of destruction waged against our wildlife. Further background on the hunting myths.