The controversial story of the North American raccoons wreaking havoc in Germany

Germany's raccoons are loved by some, despised by others. Once alleged to have been introduced by a Nazi commander, many elements of the raccoons' story have been wildly misunderstood.

In Germany, raccoons often live up to their outlaw reputation. Labelled "bandits", thanks to the distinctive black strip across their eyes, they have regularly made headlines for breaking into major hospitals, zoos and power stations, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

"They're really clever, they're able to climb everything," says wildlife ecologist Berit Michler of Germany's Thünen Institute. To some, they've become known as "smart, tricky, evil animals".

But scientists say it's time to sort myth from fact around Germany's raccoons. The urban legend goes that they were introduced to the country by Nazi commander and war criminal Hermann Göring. Yet archival research and modern ecological studies now tell a different story – one that does more justice to these charismatic opportuntists, who thrive in remote forests and urban backyards alike.

The true origin story of Germany's raccoons

Germany's raccoons were long rumoured to have a dark past, beginning in the area near the city of Kassel in central Germany, where raccoons are now a part of daily life.

"It was a common narrative among tourist guides, local politicians and larger parts of the population that Hermann Göring himself ordered the release of the raccoons in the wild," says Eberhard Leicht, the former head of the Vöhl Forestry Office in central Germany. "Some people even believed Göring had personally attended the process."

Although local forestry officials cast doubt on the stories, this view spread, says Leicht. As the rumour reached as far as the English Channel, "raccoons finally made headlines in the British tabloid press", he recalls.

Leicht set out, using archival research, to see what really happened. He found that an application was indeed made to the Prussian hunting office to release two pairs of North American raccoons near the Edersee, a reservoir near the city of Kassel, to "enrich the fauna". The application was made during the time that Göring was in charge of forestry and hunting, but Leicht found no sign that Göring had been personally involved.

"There is no indication anywhere that politicians – such as Göring, as a member of the Nazi Reich government – had any influence on the decision," says Leicht. "The file clearly shows that the entire process was merely an administrative matter."

As Alain Frantz, zoology curator at the Luxembourg Museum of Natural History, summarises: "The particular Nazi aspect, I think that's a British obsession."

In the end, Leicht's archival research showed that the raccoons were let loose before an application was signed. One morning in April 1934, the records show, the animals were released from two crates to the south side of Lake Edersee near Vöhl, around 50km (30 miles) to the south-west of Kassel. This population grew and grew.

Today, Kassel has been called the "raccoon capital of Europe", with an estimated urban population of around 30,000 of the animals.    

Germany's 'wash-bear'

Raccoons are........

© BBC