A GERMAN city has surrendered to an invasion of “Nazi” raccoons that are running riot in the streets.
Officials in Kassel, central Germany, admitted defeat by abandoning attempts to exterminate and accepting that resistance is useless.
It's believed that raccoons were first introduced to Germany by Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo – the Nazi's secret – during the 1930s.
Goering brought them in as sport for huntsmen in German forests, and thought they could kick start a new fur industry.
But after the wily creatures escaped during the collapse of after Word War II, hoards of the bandit-masked raiders have spread over .
Huge communities of have been found in Germany, , , the and , with the population said to be more than two million.
Many areas fought back against the spread but now one of their particular strongholds, Kessel, has finally given in.
City Public Order Official Heiko Lehmkuhl, 55, confessed: “Completely eradicating raccoons from urban areas is extremely difficult.
“Our goal can, therefore, only be to keep conflicts with the animals as low as possible.”
Instead of mass extermination, the city now gives citizens tips on how to protect themselves from the raccoons.
Lehmkuhl explained: “Since raccoons entering can cause significant damage and result in high costs, we recommend that residents make their homes truly ‘raccoon-proof.'”
New numbers from the German Hunting Association (DJV) show that raccoons are increasingly being .
Figures of confirmed kills of the animals, nicknamed ‘little bear' in Germany, are up from 30,000 in 2006 to 200,000 in 2023.
DJV President Helmut Dammann-Tamke, 63, told German media: “The little bear from is a real threat to the native wildlife because unlike the native fox, the raccoon is a good climber and swimmer, and therefore has a much wider range of prey.”
Wildlife experts say raccoons pose a serious threat to toads, frogs, newts and other endangered animals and reptiles.
The marauding raccoons have been a plague across Germany for years.
In one case in 2018 a shocked Berlin crane operator called the police after he found a huge raccoon waiting for him in his operator's booth more than 130 feet up.
Also in 2018, a woman found a raccoon perched on top of her sitting room clock in Remscheid, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, after it trashed her home.
And last year, the police called out to a burglary discovered a raccoon ransacking a bedroom.
But some huntsmen have vowed to set up a resistance, killing the raccoons without civic help.
One, named only as Peter, who terminates 70 of the creatures per year, explained: “The only thing that helps is trap hunting.
“The raccoon is a gourmet and what it finds seasonally in nature, it doesn't like.”
Peter, who uses cat food for bait, added: “Even better are gummy bears or bread.”
