Wolf bites woman in Germany in first attack in decades
She added that the wolf had already been seen several times in different parts of Hamburg over the past few days.
A wolf roaming through a shopping centre in Germany bit a woman in Hamburg, marking what officials say is the first attack of its kind in modern times.
The animal entered the complex in Hamburg’s Altona district on Tuesday evening, the city’s deputy mayor, Katharina Fegebank, said.
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She added that the wolf had already been seen several times in different parts of Hamburg over the past few days.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) said the incident is the first such case since wolves started returning to Germany nearly 30 years ago.
According to the local environment agency, the wolf was first spotted on Saturday in western Hamburg and was seen again at other locations on Sunday morning and afternoon.
Ms Fegebank said that “until yesterday evening the wolf had shown typical behaviour for a wild animal and had avoided human contact”.
She said the reason it entered the shopping centre remained unclear, but suggested that “the confined space and proximity to people led to a situation of extreme stress” for the canine.
Police later captured the wolf and transferred it to a wildlife park.
Ms Fegebank said that “we will find a solution for the wolf very quickly”.
Experts believe the animal is most likely a cub in the process of separating from its pack.
Wolves had been effectively eradicated from Germany by the middle of the 19th century, largely as a result of persecution, bounty hunting and the loss of habitat.
But after reunification, wolves migrating from Poland began resettling in eastern Germany as stronger wildlife protections took effect.
An official study published last year counted 219 wolf packs nationwide, along with 43 wolf pairs and 14 lone wolves.
In December, the German government endorsed legislation that would permit regular wolf hunting to control populations in regions with large packs.