Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Wolf Bites Woman on Hamburg Shopping Street in First Attack in Decades

The case tests Germany’s approach to a growing wolf population.

Overview

  • The attack Monday marks the first recorded wolf bite on a person in Germany since the animals returned in the late 1990s, according to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
  • Police captured the wolf after it entered Hamburg’s Binnenalster lake and moved it to Klövensteen Wildlife Park, where veterinary checks are underway and officials will decide its future.
  • The woman suffered a bite to the face, received stitches at a Hamburg hospital, and was later discharged, according to local reports.
  • Environmental authorities say the animal was likely a young, dispersing wolf that became disoriented in the city after multiple sightings across Hamburg over the weekend.
  • The rare encounter comes as Europe reduces protections for wolves and Germany adopts rules that make it easier to shoot wolves that kill or wound livestock.