Raccoons in Germany: debunking Nazi-origin myths and tracing an urban invasion

New research shows that Germany’s raccoons were released in 1934 for wildlife enrichment, not personally by Hermann Göring, and later DNA analysis reveals additional releases creating distinct gene pools; today about two million raccoons span Germany and parts of Europe, fueling debate over their ecological impact while scientists say evidence of major harm to native species is inconclusive and managers pursue options from hunting to sterilisation to coexistence.