By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission proposed on Friday making it easier to hunt wolves in Europe, citing their growing number and the threat they pose to livestock as reasons for downgrading the animals’ protection status.
The proposal would fix into European Union law a change which came into effect on Friday under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats – covering Europe and some African countries – to lower wolves’ status to “protected” from “strictly protected”.
“In some European regions, wolf packs have become a real danger, especially for livestock,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, which said the change would help local authorities to manage wolf populations while protecting farming and biodiversity.
Campaigners and some EU lawmakers have accused von der Leyen, whose own pony was killed by a wolf in 2022, of personal motivations for targeting wolves.
“EU conservation policies are now being shaped by Ursula von der Leyen’s personal pony drama. But lowering wolf protection is mere symbolic politics. Farmers need real solutions,” said German Green lawmaker Jutta Paulus, who warned fewer wolves could lead to more wild game causing damage in forests.
Asked whether von der Leyen’s personal experience had motivated the EU decision, a Commission spokesperson said the proposal was based on reasoning including that wolf populations are increasing in the EU, with around 20,300 animals present in 2023.
The proposal must be approved by EU countries and the European Parliament.
Since 1979, the Bern Convention had protected wolves from being deliberately hunted or captured unless they pose a serious threat to livestock or health.
Under their new status, wolves can be hunted, but countries must still take steps to stop the animals becoming endangered, such as by limiting hunting seasons.
The EU had opposed a previous proposal by Switzerland in 2022 to downgrade wolves’ protected status under the Bern Convention.
Wolves kill at least 65,500 livestock each year in the EU, the European Commission’s analysis found.
However, wolves can also help control wild populations of large mammals like deer, limiting these animals’ ability to damage agriculture or transfer disease to livestock.
Three of the nine wolf populations present in Europe have a “vulnerable” conservation status.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Editing by Louise Heavens)
