Germany's agriculture minister wants to loosen restrictions on shooting wolves to reduce a growing population that threatens sheep and goats.
Wolves disappeared from Germany a century ago after many were killed, in part because they are symbols of cunning and wickedness in German folklore but also because they attack farm animals and even humans.
They have made a comeback across Germany, and the ministry says more than 600 now roam a northern belt from the border with Poland and the Czech Republic to the Dutch frontier.