Germany After attack: wolf is in wildlife station in Lower Saxony
The captured wolf that injured a woman in Hamburg has been taken to a wildlife sanctuary in Lower Saxony. It has found a "new temporary home" there, a spokesperson for the environmental authorities told the German Press Agency.
31.03.2026, 20:48
SDA
"In consultation with animal welfare experts, it was decided that the wolf would be temporarily housed in a wildlife sanctuary in Lower Saxony." He did not say which sanctuary was involved. It was also not clear whether the wolf would be able to stay there permanently.
Senator: First bite injury caused by wolf
The animal was first spotted on the western outskirts of Hamburg last weekend. According to the authorities, it then turned up in a shopping arcade in the densely populated district of Altona on Monday.
According to the authorities, the incident with the woman then occurred there. According to dpa information, the animal's way out of the arcade was blocked by glass automatic doors. The woman had wanted to help the animal.
As Environment Senator Katharina Fegebank (Greens) said, the woman was injured by the animal. "This is the first time we have had a wolf bite injury," she said. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation spoke of the first case since the wolf was "established" in 1998. "No human has been injured by a wolf since the species returned to Germany," said the Federal Agency.
The senator did not provide any information on the severity of the injury. However, the woman was able to leave the hospital after brief outpatient treatment.
Wolf is said to have shown a fear reaction
Fegebank assumes that the animal had a "fear reaction". The wolf had behaved "completely typical of the species" for a day and a half and "moved rather cautiously and shy of humans", she said. "And then it drives it into the middle of the urban center."
After the incident in Altona, the wolf ran into the city center and was captured by the police at Jungfernstieg. Until it was transported to Lower Saxony, it was kept in the Klövensteen game reserve in the west of Hamburg and given veterinary care.
Killing the animal would also be discussed
According to State Councillor for the Environment Stefanie von Berg (Greens), it can be assumed that the wolf came to the city in search of a new territory and then lost its bearings. "That is the explanation for the fact that it kept going in instead of turning around," she said.
According to Fegebank, the killing of the animal and its release were also discussed with experts as possible options in the afternoon. With regard to a possible repetition of such an incident, she said: "This is a situation that I would not forgive myself for."
