Court blocks German state's plan to ease beaver culling

A German court has blocked new regulations that would have simplified the process for managing problem beavers, including their potential culling. The administrative court in Baden-Württemberg placed a temporary injunction on the rules, siding with a conservation group that challenged the measures.

The previous state government had introduced the ordinance to streamline the handling of beavers, which are strictly protected under EU and federal law. The regulations aimed to allow experts to easily deter beavers or, in exceptional cases, kill them without lengthy application processes. Conservationists decried the plan, calling it an attempt to "solve conflicts with shot and lead."

The court found that the ordinance failed to meet the requirements of current EU and federal law. It stated that any beaver culling must be based on specific individual situations and that the responsible authority must prove no satisfactory alternative solution exists, considering scientific and technical knowledge. The court also noted that the ordinance lacked preventive checks before deterrent measures and did not sufficiently define who could carry out these actions or require individual case decisions.

While conservationists highlight the growing beaver population's benefits for water quality and biodiversity, farmers point to considerable damage to their fields. Beaver dams can also cause flooding of roads, undermine railway embankments, and contaminate wells, posing problems for sewage treatment plants, hydropower facilities, and flood control.