EU supports reduced protection for wolves

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of tight hunting restrictions.

Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago, but their numbers have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts, triggering howls of protest from farmers angered at livestock losses.

Representatives of the 27 EU states backed a proposal to push for changes to an international wildlife convention that would see the species downgraded from “strictly protected” to “protected”. Only two countries voted against, according to a diplomatic source and the the European Commission, which put forward the plan, welcomed its approval.

Steffi Lemke, Germany´s environment minister, said a rising wolf population made the decision “justifiable from a nature conservation perspective and necessary from the point of view of livestock farmers.”

In 2023, there were breeding packs of grey wolves in 23 European Union countries, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.

In announcing plans to revise the protection status last year, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the “concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock”.