Kassel's Raccoons: Sympathy and Concerns About a Species

How the American mammals conquered a German city — and are making their way across Europe.

Editorial Wild beim Wild — 22 June 2025

Many Kassel residents have warmed to the animal, but the EU classifies it as an invasive species, and ecologists are divided on what to do about it

In Kassel, everyone has a story about raccoons. Some struggle with a family of them that has moved into their roof and simply refuses to leave. Others recount how a picnic in the park turned into an ambush when gangs of the black-and-white animals, known in Germany as Waschbären, raided their food. Almost everyone seems to have a neighbour who feeds them, much to the annoyance of the entire street.

«We are the raccoon city. They are everywhere», says Lars, a Kassel resident, as he tends his allotment garden in the Karlsaue in the fading light.

«When it gets a little darker, they come out. I sit here in my garden at night and the raccoons come. If your bag is here, they steal your banana or something», he says. «They have no predators, so they are the bosses. They can do whatever they want. We love them, but we also hate them.»

Nobody knows the exact number, but there are thousands of raccoons in this central German city, a hotspot for the estimated 1.5 million living across the country.

The omnivorous mammal, native to North America, was brought to Nazi Germany in the 1930s for fur farming purposes, but escaped animals and deliberate introductions helped establish a large wild population in the years that followed. Today they are increasingly being spotted across Europe, including in France, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

It is clear that the raccoon is spreading rapidly in Western Europe, says Daniel Willcox, one of the chairs of the Small Carnivore Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It will be very difficult to control it – but that does not mean one should not try.

Many Kassel residents have come to terms with the raccoons: several sports teams have named themselves after the animals, rubbish bins are being locked to stop opportunistic predators, and people make a point of checking under their cars for the animals . However, since 2016 the raccoon has been classified as an invasive species in the EU on the grounds that it poses a threat to native wildlife.

Raccoons have spread so extensively in parts of Europe that they are now definitively part of the ecosystems. Their spread across Europe is likely to accelerate further, and ecologists are divided on what should be done now.

Some advocate stricter programmes across the entire EU to curb their spread, similar to approaches taken in Australia and New Zealand, which have invested large sums in the removal of non-native biodiversity. Others, however, urge caution, arguing that the impact of raccoons on biodiversity in Europe needs further research and that raccoons are not the only pressure on the species they are alleged to prey upon.

«We need better data to get a picture of the actual impact of the raccoon on its prey populations. With potentially 1.6 million individuals in Germany, they have a considerable influence. But we also still have the mink, which is likewise a very effective predator of ground-nesting birds. And what about cats? It is very likely that cats cause a greater decline in bird populations, at least in semi-urban areas», he says.

Despite the animal's popularity among many Germans, 200’000 raccoons were culled in the last year alone. Hunting associations report that they are being encountered in ever greater numbers and in ever larger areas. To support population control, at least one butcher has begun producing sausages and meatballs from raccoon meat.

At sunset in Kassel, the stream of early-summer cyclists begins to dwindle. Swallows and swifts feast in the fading light on flying insects. Raccoons emerge from the trees, ready to roam the city during the brief hours of darkness. The citizens of Kassel will continue to welcome the animals.