Following a consultation, the European Commission announced on Wednesday that it wanted to classify the wolf as a “protected” species and no longer “strictly protected”. Wolf hunting could therefore be possible again, under certain conditions.
Published
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2023/12/21/loup-65845615cdade461584663.jpg)
The European Commission is proposing on Wednesday December 20 to reduce the level of protection enjoyed by wolves. This is the result of a consultation launched in September with scientists, field workers, local communities and “all parties concerned”. After this consultation, it is necessary, according to the Commission, to lower the level and increase it from “strictly protected” has “protected”. The reason: wolf packs pose a danger to livestock farming. The European institution therefore proposes to once again authorize the hunting of wolves, where there are too many of them.
There are now 20,356 wolves according to the European census. They have returned everywhere on the continent after being eradicated or decimated, particularly in France since the 19th century. The population has almost doubled in a decade and it is around the Baltic, and especially in the Balkans, that the wolf is most present. Romania is the country with the largest number, with more than 2,500 individuals.
Since 1992, the European “Habitats” directive has granted wolves total protection against hunting or capture. To change it, it would be necessary to modify the Berne Convention on the conservation of wildlife and the natural environment, unanimously by the 50 countries that are part of it. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appears determined to see the proposal through. Last year Dolly, her favorite pony, was eaten by Snowy, a male gray wolf known as GW950m.