Hunting: Nature conservation or animal cruelty?
This speaks in favor of it
Hunters don't kill for the sheer pleasure of it. They hunt for the thrill of the chase, the thrill of the hunt. Unfortunately, killing is part of the process. Hunters ensure that red and roe deer don't further damage the already ailing forests. Therefore, supplemental feeding is sometimes seen as a way to divert attention and protect trees, bushes, and reforestation areas from hungry ungulates. When hunters control vermin and predators, they do so solely to protect nature. Ground-nesting birds, in particular, are threatened by foxes, martens, and feral cats.
06.02.2026
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Interview in der HÖRZU aus den 80er Jahren mit Prof. Klaus Holdack, berater des Deutschen JagdverbandesThe death of wild animals, lamented by many animal lovers, is far more humane and species-appropriate than the end of our livestock. It has been proven that a high percentage of pigs transported to slaughterhouses by truck die from stress en route. A hunter treats a wild animal considerably better than the food industry treats animals destined for consumption. Wild animals serve as food for humans. It is illogical for people to criticize hunting but then eat deer and hares. We can no longer leave nature to its own devices. Its balance is too severely disrupted.
06.02.2026
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Interview in der HÖRZU aus den 80er Jahren mit Prof. Klaus Holdack, berater des Deutschen JagdverbandesThis speaks against it
Ultimately, there is only one motive for hunting: the joy of killing. A small minority sees themselves as the successors of former feudal lords. Hunters turn killing into a social event, hoping to gain publicity through hunting and a sense of power by carrying a weapon. The hunters' supposed love of animals is hypocrisy. It is inevitably focused on the death of the "beloved" animal and then attempts to beautify that death with absurd ceremonies. Everything hunters do for nature conservation is ultimately self-serving and serves to maintain hunting opportunities. Winter feeding only partially protects the forest, since pheasants are also brought through the winter at great expense. These are animals that cannot harm the forest while foraging for food. Often, feeding is done to keep game within one's own hunting grounds. If numerous animals survive the cold, they are shot to reduce their numbers again.
06.02.2026
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Interview in der HÖRZU aus den 80er Jahren mit Dr. Horst Hagen, Tierforscher und JagdkritikerGame management overrides natural selection. It also always favors the best trophy animals, as these are the target of almost every hunter's insatiable desire. The relentless persecution of predators stems from humanity's deep-rooted competition for food. Foxes are only so mercilessly hunted because they are the last major competitors of hunters, not because of the risk of rabies. The probability of contracting rabies, which is primarily transmitted by foxes, in Germany is 1 in 171,875,000! Many hunters are poor shots. It's no wonder, then, that at least a third of the animals are shot in the ribs and die a painful death.
06.02.2026
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Interview in der HÖRZU aus den 80er Jahren mit Dr. Horst Hagen, Tierforscher und JagdkritikerFacts
260,000 hunters in West Germany go hunting. By the end of the season, they will have shot approximately 30,000 red deer, 700,000 roe deer, 70,000 wild boar, 800,000 hares, and 400,000 pheasants. (As of the 1980s)
06.02.2026
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