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Home / World

Wolf bites pensioner in the face in Hamburg street

James Rothwell
Daily Telegraph UK·
31 Mar, 2026 07:11 PM2 mins to read

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A wolf bit a 65-year-old woman in Hamburg, marking the first attack since wolves returned to Germany. Photo / 123rf

A wolf bit a 65-year-old woman in Hamburg, marking the first attack since wolves returned to Germany. Photo / 123rf

A wolf bit a pensioner in the face on a busy Hamburg street on Monday, the first recorded attack since the predator returned to the wild in Germany.

Police said the animal, which had been roaming the city for several days, bit the 65-year-old woman near a branch of Ikea.

It was the first recorded wolf attack on a human since the species returned to the country in the late 1990s, according to German environmental officials.

They said the wolf might have come into the northern city after it was separated from the rest of its pack and became disoriented.

Police armed with shields spent about an hour trying to capture it as it put up a fight, local media reported, before it was seized and taken to a wildlife park.

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Questions over why wolf strayed into urban area

Wolves almost vanished from Germany for about 150 years after they were hunted to the brink of extinction.

To date, there have been 21 confirmed sightings of wolves in Hamburg, with a wolf recently found dead on a motorway after being hit by a car, according to German broadcaster DW.

Monday’s attack is likely to raise questions about why the wolf strayed so far into an urban area, and whether the rewilding programme needs better checks and balances.

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It could also raise concerns among German farmers, who have long criticised the rewilding efforts because of the risk to their livestock.

Wolf attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, as the animals generally avoid human contact wherever possible.

The risk of an attack increases significantly if the wolf is suffering from rabies or is provoked by humans.

In some cases, such as when wolves are fed or they grow accustomed to scavenging in urban areas, they may lose their inhibitions around humans.

Last week, the Bundesrat, the German upper house of parliament, voted to allow the hunting of wolves in certain cases to bring down the population.

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