June 11, 2026, 11:31 am | Read time: 11 minutes
Few wild animals polarize Germany as much as the raccoon. For some, it’s a cute city dweller; for others, an invasive threat to native species. While hunters advocate for consistent hunting, animal rights activists seek alternatives. In Kassel, they aimed to take a new path with a sterilization project that gained nationwide attention. But shortly after its launch, the responsible authority pulled the emergency brake. Why the raccoon stirs such emotions–and whether the controversial project still has a future.
Why the Raccoon Is Now Found Almost Everywhere
The raccoon originally hails from North America but was introduced to Germany as a fur supplier before World War I. Initially, it lived on farms until humans deliberately released it into the wild at the Edersee in Hesse in 1934. With two females and two males, the raccoon’s success story in Germany began. The animals were meant to reproduce in the wild to “enrich the native fauna and save the fur industry from expensive imports,” as the initiative was justified at the time. It worked. By the early 1960s, an estimated 600 raccoons lived around the lake.1
Even then, they were combated and included in hunting laws in Hesse in 1954 due to alleged damage to orchards. In 1945, about two dozen raccoons escaped after a bomb hit in Brandenburg–and reproduced as successfully as in Hesse. Raccoons also escaped from breeding facilities in Berlin and were released in the Eifel. Everywhere, they quickly adapted and multiplied. To this day, North Hesse and Brandenburg are hotspots for raccoon populations in Germany, with Kassel in North Hesse even considered the “raccoon capital.” There, more than 100 animals per 100 hectares are said to live. Raccoons also thrive in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).2, 3
Raccoons Have Few Natural Predators
Listed as an invasive species since 2016, the small bear now feels at home in most regions of Germany. The exact number of raccoons here is hard to determine. However, it’s clear that the number of raccoons hunted increases almost every year. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, about 33,600 raccoons were hunted in the 2024/2025 season, an increase of about 3,600 compared to the previous season. Ten years earlier, the number was a good third less.4, 5
Across Germany, around 200,000 raccoons are now hunted annually. In Central Europe (Germany and directly neighboring countries), estimates suggest one to two million raccoons live. The small bear, considered not particularly shy, is no longer just found in forests but has deliberately followed humans into cities. There, it finds plenty of food, as it is an omnivore that feeds not only on lizards, small fish, eggs, and young birds from ground and tree nests but also on garbage and food scraps.6, 7
It has few natural predators, and raccoons in urban areas are more likely to die in traffic than from predators. The cute small bear has firmly established itself in Germany and, according to experts, can no longer be pushed back. The raccoon got its name from its habit of extensively touching and turning prey and other objects with its front paws–similar to the movements people make when washing dishes. However, raccoons do not wash their food before eating it.8
Raccoon as a Threat to Native Animals?
The problem with raccoons is not only that they have few natural predators. The animal, which is not particularly picky when searching for food, has become a threat to numerous native animal species, as studies from 2024 showed. The “Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center” examined the stomach contents of 108 raccoons from nature reserves in Hesse and Saxony-Anhalt and found common toads, newts, grass frogs, and grass snakes.
During a sample collection in the Spessart region of Hesse, more than 400 skinned toads were found on about 2,000 square meters of water surface, as reported by “Tagesschau” in 2024. Ground-nesting bird nests are also raided, and raccoons prey on young birds in nesting boxes, as observations have shown. As early as 2014, the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment described the raccoon in a policy paper as a “significant threat” to species endangered with extinction in Germany. NABU Gütersloh labeled the animal as a danger to native animals in a publication on its website that appeared in 2020.9
Additionally, the raccoon is considered a spreader and transmitter of diseases. In Kassel, for example, estimates suggest every second raccoon is infected with distemper, as studies from 2025 showed. Distemper is a viral disease that also endangers pets like dogs and often ends fatally. Humans and other animals can also become infected with roundworms, whose eggs lurk in raccoon feces. As raccoons increasingly inhabit populated areas where they encounter humans and pets, these parasites could easily spread and infect humans, researchers fear.10,11
Closed Season for Raccoons Under Criticism
Although the raccoon is considered an invasive species and is seen as a nuisance in many places, hunting the fur bearer is controversial. “It’s just cute,” says a hunter from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern who wishes to remain anonymous. Because the raccoon is a popular figure, many people do not see it as a nuisance.
This sympathy quickly fades when the raccoon, as recently documented in North Rhine-Westphalia, breaks into a chicken coop and wreaks havoc. Generally, raccoons are not hunted between March and July in NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland. This serves to protect mother animals raising their young during this time. Other states, such as Bavaria and Brandenburg, do not have a closed season for raccoons. Since hunting laws are a state matter, these different regulations arise.
Since this year, there is no longer a closed season for raccoons in Hesse. Now, the animals can be hunted year-round in this state. In the 2024/2025 season, more than 41,000 raccoons were hunted in Hesse according to official figures, despite the still applicable closed season, setting a new record.
The fact that raccoons still have closed seasons elsewhere is met with some incomprehension. Dietmar Brockes, environmental policy spokesman for the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia, criticized in a media report that raccoons cannot be hunted year-round, while other invasive species like nutrias can. “The raccoon massively endangers species like partridges, lapwings, skylarks, as well as amphibians, reptiles, and hares,” said Markus Stifter, press spokesman for the State Hunting Association of Hesse, in the German Hunting Journal. “Hunting is a central component of species protection–along with habitat improvement and food security.”
More Hunting, More Offspring?
Animal rights organizations like Peta and Wild Animal Protection Germany argue that raccoons are not a threat to native wildlife. “No scientific study has yet proven that there is a fundamental ecological threat from raccoons in Germany,” Peta stated in a blog post. The animals generally feed primarily on easy prey like earthworms, insects, and fruit.12,13
They also argue that wild animals are not disease carriers. Germany has been rabies-free since 2008, and the transmission of roundworms is almost impossible. “Human infection as an accidental host is extremely rare and occurs only through contact with infectious eggs via the mouth–these can be found in the feces of infected animals.” Even in areas where a high percentage of raccoons carry the parasite, human infection is extremely rare.
Peta therefore advocates for driving the animals away if they become nuisances in homes and gardens. Critics argue that shooting raccoons is even counterproductive. The more raccoons are shot, the more will come–the animals respond to the threat with increased birth rates. “Raccoons will spread in Germany with or without hunting until they largely exhaust the habitat capacity,” says Wild Animal Protection Germany. “Hunting cannot stop or prevent this. Also, because raccoons–like foxes or wild boars–can quickly compensate for high losses with more births.” Peta makes similar arguments.
No Consensus on the Impact of Hunting
The Hessian Hunting Association counters: There is no scientific evidence that raccoons reproduce faster when hunted. The claim is based on a misunderstood study from the United States. This argument is mistakenly applied to many animal species. “When I hear something like that, I get angry,” says a spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalia Hunting Association. Neither cormorants nor raccoons reproduce more when hunted, “you can claim it as often as you want, it’s simply not true.”14
Raccoon Sterilization Project
In Hesse, efforts were made last year to curb the population in another way. The city of Kassel, at the initiative of Wild Animal Aid, enabled a pilot project where raccoons were to be captured, sterilized, and then released.15
Wild Animal Aid organized around 30 volunteers and veterinarians, arranged for live traps, cages for multiple animals, and their setup. The aim was to attract and capture male and female raccoons in part of the city. Then, the raccoons were to be sterilized, tagged with an ear mark, and shortly thereafter released at the same location where they were captured. The plan was that sterilized animals would not need to be shot, as they could no longer reproduce.
This method is used in Italy for nutrias, which are considered a nuisance in some regions.
Legal Hurdles for the Pilot Project
The problem: According to European Union regulations, the raccoon is considered an invasive species. After capture, the animal should not be released back into the wild. This also applies to sterilized animals. However, the city of Kassel saw an exception for itself due to its raccoon density, allowing such animals to be captured, sterilized, and released if their species is so widespread that it is established and can no longer be eradicated. The action must then aim to control the population.16
The pilot trial, initially set for three years, began in the summer of 2025. But just two weeks and six sterilized raccoons later, it was halted. The reason: A new jurisdiction regulation by the state government, which meant the city of Kassel could no longer decide alone on the raccoon issue. Now, approval from the Upper Nature Conservation Authority (ONB) at the Kassel Regional Council (RP) was required, as the city of Kassel announced. “We deeply regret this situation. In numerous preliminary discussions at the expert level, there were no objections to capturing and subsequently sterilizing raccoons. Thus, the city of Kassel was happy to enable the pilot project financially independently carried out by the Federal Association of Wild Animal Aid,” it was stated at the time.
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Pilot Trial Under Review
Since then, the project has been on hold. The Upper Nature Conservation Authority (ONB) explained in August 2025 why the action was stopped. Numerous “inquiries regarding the conservation and veterinary aspects of the project” were received, prompting the authority to “get a firsthand impression of the project.” “As a result of these consultations, the ONB considers further information from the city of Kassel and the Federal Association necessary. This is required to ensure the project’s legal compliance. In particular, the provisions of conservation and hunting law raise numerous questions here. It is also being examined whether the project constitutes an animal experiment in the strict sense.”17
The hunting community in Hesse also opposed the project, citing legal reasons and the fact that sterilized raccoons still need to eat–and thus still pose a threat to amphibians and ground-nesting birds, as the State Hunting Association stated.18
Both the Federal Association of Wild Animal Aid and the city of Kassel were then required to submit further documents and project information to the RP. “The subsequent review by the RP Kassel will take additional time,” the authority concluded. Although the RP is aware of the raccoon problem in Kassel, “this does not exempt the Regional Council from the duty to ensure that official measures within its jurisdiction are legally compliant.”
Results Not Expected Before Summer 2026
In early summer 2026, a spokesperson for the Kassel Regional Council told PETBOOK that initial results from reviews and considerations, conducted in coordination with the federal government, states, and European Union guidelines, should be available. However, he did not know anything specific yet, and referred to the Hessian Ministry of the Environment. There, it was finally stated to PETBOOK that there were no new updates on the topic. “The states and the federal government are currently developing enforcement guidelines for dealing with invasive species according to Regulation (EU) 1143/2014.” This should be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2026. “Based on this, the raccoon project will then be evaluated by the responsible authorities.” This currently offers little help to the raccoon, as the now year-round permitted hunting of the animals in Hesse has not been suspended.