In December 2025, Lower Austrian Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf (ÖVP) presented a comprehensive amendment to the hunting law to the Lower Austrian Parliament.
He described it as Austria's "most modern hunting law". It has been in effect since February 3, 2026.
The amendment contains numerous new regulations:
- Wolves as game animals: year-round closed season with explicit exceptions for so-called "problem wolves". If a wolf approaches a settlement within 100 meters or a protected herd for the first time and attempts to scare it away are unsuccessful, it may be shot.
- Night vision devices: Now permitted for hunting fox, badger and stone marten at night.
- Drones: The use of drones for hunting is expressly prohibited – including stalking, locating, filming, and driving game. Drones are permitted only in exceptional cases for rescuing young game, for wildlife population surveys, and for assessing wildlife damage.
- New game species: Golden jackal and Egyptian goose have been newly included in hunting regulations.
The ban on drones for recreational hunting sounds at first glance like a way to protect wildlife. However, it stands in stark contrast to the simultaneous expansion of night hunting through new aiming aids: what is prohibited by drone during the day is replaced by technology at night.
The political foundation: EU downgrade in 2025
The decisive legal lever for the amendment is the EU's downgrading of the wolf's status: in 2025, under the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive, the wolf was downgraded from "strictly protected species" to "protected species." This opened the door at the EU level for national regulations that would previously have been prohibited under species protection law.
Criticism from animal rights groups
The Association Against Animal Factories (VgT) speaks of a "culture war in forestry" and sees the law as serving solely the interests of hunters. Key points of criticism:
- From a scientific point of view, the "favorable conservation status" of the wolf has not yet been achieved in Austria.
- By extending night hunting to foxes, badgers and martens, wild animals no longer have a "breather", not even at night.
- The exception rules for "problem wolves" are so broad that, in fact, hardly any wolf is permanently safe.
If hunting is intensified even during the night, the animals don't even get a break during the night, says VgT Deputy Chairman Georg Prinz.
From a wildlife ethics perspective, this is no small matter: for most wild animal species, night is the only time when they can act without human pressure.
Germany: The Bundestag decides
In Germany, the wolf is also on the verge of being included in hunting regulations. The Committee on Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs has called a public hearing on the Federal Hunting Act (document 21/3546), which will take place on February 23, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. in Berlin. Experts will advise on the planned amendments to the Federal Hunting Act and the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
What is planned
The proposed law aims to include the wolf as a "generally huntable species" in the Federal Hunting Act. This was made possible by the same EU downgrading of the Habitats Directive on which Lower Austria also bases its decision. The Federal Hunting Act provides the framework within which the 16 federal states enact their own hunting laws. Therefore, inclusion at the federal level would pave the way for wolf culls in all German states.
Scientists and associations are divided
The hearing in the Bundestag reveals a lack of consensus. Conservation groups and some scientists emphasize that without the wolf as a regulatory factor, Germany risks long-term ecological imbalance. Hunting associations and agricultural policymakers, on the other hand, point to the increasing number of wolf packs and rising livestock depredation as arguments for active population management.
The common denominator: interest politics under the guise of "management"
What connects Lower Austria and Germany is the political narrative: the wolf as a "problem animal," whose regulation is framed as a rational and scientifically sound measure. But anyone who looks more closely will recognize the patterns:
- The EU downgrading was actively pursued by agricultural and hunting lobbies over many years.
- In both countries, agricultural ministries close to the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) (AT) or led by the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) (DE) dominate legislation.
- Although livestock protection as a consistent, non-lethal alternative is mentioned, it is rarely implemented as an equivalent approach.
- The ban on drones for hunting in Lower Austria does not change the fact that night vision aids are driving the technological intensification of hobby hunting.
For a well-founded assessment of these mechanisms, it is worth taking a look at the dossier "The Wolf in Europe: Why hobby hunting is not a solution" as well as the dossier "Wolf in Switzerland: Facts, politics and the limits of hunting" .
Two countries, one script
Austria and Germany are following the same playbook: exploiting the EU's downgrading of the wolf's protected status, including it in hunting regulations, and selling the measure as "common sense" and "legal certainty." What is systematically ignored is the still fragile conservation status of the wolf, the inadequate implementation of livestock protection measures, and the message such a law sends to society. Taking wild animals seriously as sentient beings means not leaving these questions to hunting associations.
Further information on this topic: Taking action against recreational hunting | Scaring away wild animals | Studies on the impact of hunting on wild animals
