As of: February 13, 2024, 4:58 a.m
By: Julian Mayr
Comments
Press
Split
The debate over fox hunting is controversial.
Hunting associations see them as necessary, animal rights activists are calling for a ban, especially criticizing the popular fox weeks.
Frankfurt – Dozens, if not hundreds, of foxes, lying on tree branches on the ground.
Some of them have bloody gunshot wounds, while others probably fell into a trap.
It is images like these, taken during the so-called Fox Weeks in February, that animal rights activists take to the scene every year to call for bans on the hunting of foxes.
In the last hunting season in Germany, over 400,000 foxes fell victim to hunting.
During the so-called Fox Weeks in February, hunters organize themselves into groups to hunt foxes together and kill as many of the predators as possible within a short period of time.
The German Hunting Association (DJV) argues that there are numerous reasons for the reduction in the fox population.
During the fox weeks in February, a particularly large number of foxes are hunted.
© Ralf Rottmann/IMAGO
According to the German Hunting Association, hunting foxes is necessary for population regulation
According to the DJV, regulation of the inventory is necessary per se.
Due to the lack of natural enemies or diseases, such as rabies, which has now been successfully combated, foxes multiply too much without human intervention.
However, animal protection organizations argue that increased hunting activity only leads to more animals immigrating from neighboring areas.
They claim that hunting destroys foxes' stable social structures, which can lead to uncontrolled reproduction and increased birth rates.
According to the animal protection organization Peta, this would result in “hardly any permanent territories with consistent pair bonds.”
Do too many foxes pose a risk of disease or do they harbor it?
According to the DJV, too high a population density is problematic in terms of the transmission of diseases, including mange and distemper.
Mange is a parasitic skin disease that is transmitted through physical contact between foxes or via their breeding dens.
“If the number of possible hosts per area increases, the risk of infection also increases and the disease can spread quickly,” says the DJV.
An increased incidence of mange is an indication to scientists that the population density of foxes and other smaller forest predators, such as badgers, is too high.
My news
Read why a village in Baden-Württemberg had to be abandoned 210 years ago
Weather in Germany: Expert announces “5b low” – next weather change is coming
All that's left of an important company in Baden-Württemberg is an abandoned factory
Forbidden carnival costumes: If you don't get the right information, you could even end up in prison
Baden-Württemberg is home to one of the safest cities in Germany
Major NATO maneuvers: There will be military convoys and disabilities because of Quadriga 2024
However, Peta argues that foxes can act more as a health police and prevent the spread of disease.
“Foxes ensure the survival of their prey species by preying on weak and sick animals and thus immediately eliminating sources of disease,” say the animal rights activists.
Fox hunting in the spirit of species protection
It's not just diseases that humans can curb by hunting foxes.
The DJV also sees this as a contribution to species protection.
Predators such as foxes in large numbers would make life difficult for endangered bird and reptile species in their ever-shrinking refuges.
These include lapwings, skylarks, partridges and other ground-nesting birds.
“If we manage to reduce the predation pressure [on threatened meadow birds], then there will even be more of them again,” said Marcus Henke from the Bremen State Hunting Association in a DJV video.
Animal rights activists, however, see the reason for shrinking populations of endangered species as the loss of habitats and dwindling food supplies.
The hunting community certainly recognizes that “intensive, modern land use is a major cause of the loss of species”.
However, even in protected areas, according to the DJV, “rare meadow breeders are at high risk from predators.”
Criticism of Fox Weeks: According to animal rights activists, the practice does not comply with animal welfare
Both hunters and animal rights activists base their arguments on scientific studies and literature.
Regardless of the debate about the benefits of fox hunting and especially the intensified hunting in February, animal protection organizations criticize the practice of fox weeks in particular as not conforming to animal welfare.
This practice is grazing-friendly and therefore corresponds to the hunters' ethical code.
Germany's fox population
In the 2022/23 hunting season, a total of 408,926 foxes were shot nationwide in Germany.
This is evident from the hunting statistics of the German Hunting Association.
However, it is unclear how many foxes there are in total in Germany.
According to the German Wildlife Foundation, no precise information can be given about the actual population.
When asked, the DJV also confirmed that the total number of foxes in Germany cannot be scientifically recorded.
An “approximate value can only be determined through construction mapping” at a regional level.
However, this applies to all wild animal populations.
According to estimates by wildlife expert Sophia Kimmig, up to 15,000 foxes may live in the federal capital Berlin alone.
Source: DJV/German Wildlife Foundation
During the fox weeks, however, hunters without territory hunt foxes without local knowledge, and in February most females are already pregnant and are therefore often targeted by hunters, according to the German Wildlife Protection Association.
Many foxes are not killed, but rather seriously injured.
Animal rights activists particularly criticize construction hunting with dogs and manslaughter traps.
In Great Britain, driving foxes with riders and dogs is de facto forbidden.
After all, there is hardly any danger of live puppies being killed during the fox weeks.
As biologist Saskia Schneider explains in the magazine
PetBook
, the mating season for foxes usually falls during the fox weeks.
Most fox pups are not born until March and April.
As the DJV also confirmed at the request of
IPPEN.MEDIA
, “parent animal protection generally applies when hunting foxes.” Parent animals necessary for rearing must therefore not be shot by hunters.
However, some animal rights activists, with the exception of the animal protection organization Peta, as well as hunters in Germany agree on hunting the invasive species of raccoons.
In Australia, however, people hunt toads.
The so-called cane toads are highly poisonous and are considered a pest down under.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
Find out more about our AI principles here.