Germany updates: Wolf numbers on rise in much of country – DW – 08/01/2025
Germany has reported a "favorable" conservation status for wolves in parts of the country, citing strong population growth.
Officials have documented 209 wolf packs and around 1,600 animals, mostly in the Atlantic region along the North Sea coast and other parts of northern Germany.
The government has been planning to allow hunting there next. However, the status for much of the rest of the country remains under review.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is headed for the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is continuing his two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Friday with meetings in Ramallah after talks in Jerusalem.
Wadephul is set to meet Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where discussions are expected to focus on rising violence by Israeli settlers and renewed debate in Israel over annexing parts of the territory.
The visit comes a week after the Israeli parliament passed a non-binding resolution in support of annexation, prompting criticism from the international community — including Germany, one of Israel's closest allies.
Wadephul began his trip Thursday with meetings in Jerusalem, including talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. During those meetings, he warned that Israel faces growing international isolation over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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Starting later today, German train operator Deutsche Bahn is set to close its 280-kilometer (174-mile) route linking Berlin to Hamburg for at least nine months.
With up to 30,000 passengers daily, the route is the most heavily used direct connection in Germany's long-distance rail transport system.
Read more about the shutdown here.
The German government has reported a "favorable" conservation status for wolves in parts of the country to the European Commission for the first time since numbers were tracked.
In 2023/24, authorities documented 209 wolf packs and about 1,600 individuals across Germany.
The favorable designation applies to the so-called Atlantic region, which includes the North Sea coast and parts of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Environment Ministry says.
Officials said the wolf population in these areas has developed "significantly positively" in recent years. The German government plans to allow hunting again as a next step for the area, but it might take longer for the rest of Germany.
That has prompted the German Farmers' Association has accused the German government of a "tactical delay" in its regional approach. It wants hunting to be allowed more urgently as a way to protect livestock.
The status of the wolf for the larger continental region — which includes most of Germany outside the Alps — remains "unknown" for now. The government says it will assess this region based on a newly agreed methodology between the federal and state governments and later submit findings to Brussels.
Under the EU's Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive, a favorable conservation status means there is enough habitat and food to ensure the species' long-term survival, and that the population is large enough not to be at risk from factors like disease, road accidents, or poaching.
In the last EU report in 2019, Germany's wolf population was still considered in "unfavorable" condition. Species listed as such may not be legally hunted under EU law.
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and welcome to our latest updates from the DW newsroom in Bonn.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is spending the second day of his Middle East visit in Ramallah on Friday, where he's set to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks expected to focus on the rising tensions in the occupied West Bank.
His visit comes at a particularly sensitive time. Just days ago, Israel's parliament passed a non-binding resolution in favor of annexing parts of the territory — a move that's drawn sharp international pushback.
Meanwhile, train commuters from Berlin to Hamburg are about to see direct services put on hold for the next nine months.
Stay with us here to find out what Germany is talking about on Friday, August 1, 2025.
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Malnutrition-related deaths spiked in Gaza in July, according to the World Health Organization. Airdrops have been sharply criticized by some humanitarian groups as expensive, inefficient and dangerous. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and vowed to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. "We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part," Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages who had gathered at the square to stage a protest to call upon the Israeli government to secure a deal to release their loved ones from captivity. Witkoff was cited as saying so, according to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He added "We will do what's right for the Gazan people." Protesters had gathered at the square after videos of Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released by militant groups, sparking anger and outrage. One video of an Israeli hostage was released by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Thursday. A second video was released by Hamas on Friday (see posts above). It is unclear when those videos were filmed. Witkoff on Friday also visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza run by theUS-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The foundation has been widely criticized for failing to improve conditions in the besieged enclave. The amount of aid entering Gaza remains "very insufficient" despite limited improvement, the German government said on Saturday, after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel. Germany "notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement. "Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid," Kornelius added. German ministers had gathered on Saturday, following German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul's trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Thursday and Friday. Wadephul had called upon Israeli authorities to ensure safe access for UN agencies to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying the current restrictions were worsening the crisis. "The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza must end now," Wadephul had said, stressing that aid distribution through the UN had long worked effectively and needed to resume without obstacles. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Good evening and welcome to the weekend edition of the Middle East blog. We're tracking the news about Germany having delivered more aid into Gaza, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to the region. Witkoff has met with families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas and vowed to secure a deal to bring their loved ones home. But some families were disappointed and said they have would have liked to hear more about practical ways to secure that deal. Follow along for news, analysis, and explainers on the situation in Gaza, Israel, and the wider Middle East, on the weekend of August 2 and August 3.
