A wolf bit a woman in a shopping district in Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city. It is believed to be the first such attack since wild wolves, previously extinct in Germany, reappeared in 1998.
According to a report by the Associated Press citing Germany’s DPA news agency, the fire department stated that the woman who experienced this unusual encounter on the afternoon of the 30th has been sent to a Hamburg hospital.
The police did not specify which part of the body was bitten, and the reason for the attack is still unclear.
The attack occurred on the west side of the city center, in a shopping district near the Altona train station. Police said that late at night, after receiving reports from the public of sightings of the wolf in central Hamburg’s Binnenalster lake and other areas, officers pulled it out of the lake. Local media reported that the wolf was later sent to a fenced facility on the outskirts of the city.
Officials believe that the wolf involved in the incident is likely the same one spotted over the weekend in Blankenese, a suburban area. Experts speculate that it is a young wolf still searching for its own territory and that it wandered into the city by mistake. Local authorities noted that wolves usually avoid humans and dogs, and that the unique urban environment is quite stressful for them.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation stated that this is the first recorded incident of a human being attacked by a wolf since wild wolves, which had been absent for 150 years, reappeared in Germany nearly 30 years ago.
In Europe, the issue of wolf attacks on livestock has been an increasing concern for farmers over the years. Last year, the European Parliament voted to downgrade the protection status of wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected."
Last week, the German parliament passed legislation making it easier to shoot wolves that have killed or injured livestock.