Wolf spotted roaming through German city centre

German police have spotted a wolf in the western city of Lüdenscheid, in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in the area, reported dpa.

Officers noticed the wolf near the train station early on Saturday as it was walking through the city centre, a police spokesman said on Monday.

Efforts were made to try to herd the animal back into a wooded area with a police car, but officers lost track of the wolf shortly afterwards, he said.

Local media reported that the wolf was also spotted by residents in Lüdenscheid, a city with a population of some 71,000 to the east of Dusseldorf.

Police stressed that the sighting was "very unusual."

"We have many call-outs involving animals - involving dogs, horses and even cows and llamas, but never a wolf before," the spokesman said, adding that the animal didn't cause any damage.

Authorities advise against approaching or running away from a wolf when encountering. Instead, people should try to scare it off by clapping loudly or waving one's arms.

Wolves, which are protected in Germany, are rarely ever seen venturing into urban settlements, unlike foxes which have become more and more common in German cities and can be regularly spotted in Berlin, for example.

However, the country's wolf population has been increasing in recent years at least in some parts of the country, officials said in a report to the EU in July.

Between 2023 and 2024, Germany had a total of 209 confirmed wolf packs with approximately 1,600 animals, according to June figures from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.