What, if any dangerous wildlife is native to Germany?

Question

What, if any dangerous wildlife is native to Germany?

Answer 1

If you should go to the Bavarian Forst or the Bavarian Alps you should watch out for the "Wolpertinger".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinge...

Answer 2

The wild boar is native to Germany and can be quite dangerous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar

Answer 3

@Alwin: Boars, well that you do not meet some in the wilderness of the Bavarian mountains is clear. The modern boar prefers nightlife of the cities, especially your beloved Berlin.

http://www.spiegel.de/sptv/reportage/0,1...

(sorry don`t have a translation to English.)

I have been bitten by a tick for only one time and I have got borreliossis. In my region they have no tick-borne encephalitis, but in Bavaria they could have.

The european adder is seldom and they are shy. I have only seen one in my lifetime.

Foxes were in former times dangerous because they were the mean carrier of canine madness. But today they immunize them.

Greetings from Hamburg, Germany

Heinz

ps: oh, I have forgotten --- we have apoximately 35 wildliving wolves. And we had one bear, but the Bavarians shot this nice italian guy.

Answer 4

they have brown bears

Answer 5

from the bird species, the robin, they tend to attack humans and peck them into the hospital

Answer 6

The wild boar is really a big pig, but when walking German forests (unless you're a hunter), you'll never come across it. The only dangerous animal we have is the Kreuzotter (vipera berus), a poisonous snake whose bite can be life-threatening when it hits a vein, and ticks that allegedly spread meningitis and other diseases. But the risk is very low if you dress reasonably walking through the forests. I was never bitten by a European Adder, although I saw some; I've had some ticks (as had my cats), and I never got an infection from them. Just pull them out, and that's it.

We don't have big carnivores here, and the mosquitoes, abundant in late summer, will carry no malaria. If you're lucky, like me, and are in the countryside, you might occasinally see a fox strolling by your house at dusk. They're cute animals; get you rid of mice and rats and all the other rodents they feed upon. I like them. They don't bite.

The only wild animal, mostly seen in Bavarian pubs after sunset, is the wolverine. They show up in hordes swallowing "Schweinebraten" and drinking "Weißbier" and Schnaps.

Answer 7

The most common and therefore most dangerous animal is the wild boar. The wild pigs are often used to people and are not afraid of humans, they will often come into the cities and villages and raid garbage cans. If you are on a camping site and hear some funny noises, do not go and investigate! Female pigs with young can be very vicous and their tusks can rip severe wounds.

Brown bears and wolves used to be native to Germany  and there have been instances where a bear and a 2 packs of wolves migrated into Germany. But in the case of the young brown bear nicknamed "Bruno" he was shot shortly after entering Bavaria from the Alps, plus the press followed him day and night so people were never in any danger from him.  The 2 small packs of wolves near the Polish border that are native to Germany live on military training grounds that are closed off to the public. They also have been subjected to hunting by prejudiced forest keepers. There has never been any threat from these wolves to humans and the majority of people in the villages around the training grounds don't mind the wolves.

Another big hunter native to Germany is the lynx, but it is so shy that seeing one is a sign of luck. Nobody has ever heard reports of a lynx attack on humans.

There is also a poisonous snake, the Kreuzotter or European Adder (vipera berus).  This snake is very very rare and not very dangerous, a healthy adult would get very sick for up to a day from a bite and then everything would be fine. Children and old people would need to see a doctor. Instances where people have died from a bite are even rarer than the snake and were usually linked to some pre-existing medical condition like kidney or heart problems or allergic reactions.

@ Heinz aka pinata: "Tollwut" is called rabies, not canine madness.

Totally forgot about ticks, as we don't have disease-carrying ticks hear in the north. Ticks spreading dangerous infections are a problem in the south, Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Northrhine-Westphalia to some extend. Simplest method against ticks is to stay away from brush and high grass and to wear long clothing.