Archival Research Traces Germany's Raccoons to 1934 Release, Not Göring

1 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 16

April 1934 records show two pairs of North American raccoons were released near Lake Edersee by local officials, with no evidence Hermann Göring ordered or attended the move.
Archival files indicate the release happened before the formal application was signed and was treated as an administrative effort to “enrich the fauna,” overturning a long-circulated Nazi-origin myth.
More than 400 DNA samples later showed Germany's population did not stem from just one or two small groups, but also from additional releases in Saxony and the Harz Mountains.
Around 2 million raccoons now live in Germany, including roughly 30,000 in Kassel, while the species has spread into neighboring countries and across parts of Europe.
Their ecological impact remains disputed: a decade-long Müritz study found no significant biodiversity threat, but other researchers and hunters cite harm to amphibians, birds and other native species.