A woman was bitten and injured by a wolf in the northern German city of Hamburg, police said late Monday night. This represents a rare human encounter with a normally shy species.
Authorities said the incident happened near an Ikea store about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the center of Germany’s second-largest city. The wolf later headed towards Lake Binnenalster and entered the water, where authorities captured it using a net.
The animal had probably been roaming in the city since at least Saturday. Multiple sightings have been reported from a suburban train stop in Hamburg to a neighborhood about 11 kilometers from the attack site – believed to be the same wolf.
First wolf attack in Germany in decades
According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the incident is the first record of a wolf attack on a human in Germany since the species’ return in the late 1990s.
For approximately 150 years, wolves were absent from Germany, becoming extinct by the beginning of the 20th century. They reappeared around 1998, migrating westward from Poland to East Germany, with the help of conservation protection and expansion of habitats. Their return has been hailed as a conservation success – and a source of tension, especially among farmers worried about the loss of livestock.
The upper house of the German parliament last week approved legislation making it easier to hunt wolves.
The European Union downgraded the status of wolves from “strictly protected” to “protected” in a vote last year.
Experts say attacks on humans are extremely rare. Wolves, especially healthy wolves, generally avoid people and retreat when encountered. A study by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research found that most incidents are linked to rabies, provocation or habituation – when animals lose their natural fear of humans, often after finding food in or near settlements.
What did the experts say about wolves in Hamburg?
It is believed that the wolf in Hamburg is a young animal separated from its pack, a stage during which individuals may travel long distances in search of territory. Environmental officials said that disoriented by the dense urban environment, it had probably wandered into the city by accident and was trying to find its way back.
Local officials said the wolf has now been moved to a wildlife park.
Since 2013, Hamburg has had 21 confirmed sightings of wolves. Recently, a wolf was found dead after being hit by a vehicle on a highway in mid-March.
Edited by: Rob Turner