2023-12-20 17:44:42
The wolf is present in most countries of the European Union. wrzesientomek / stock.adobe.com
The European Commission has tabled a bill to downgrade the species’ status from “strictly protected” to “protected.”
The European Commission wants to relax protection for wolves. The institution in fact tabled a bill on Wednesday aimed at downgrading the status of the species, from “strictly protected” to “protected”, within the framework of the Berne Convention on the conservation of wildlife and natural environments in Europe.
Concretely, this means that hunting can be authorized by Member States, who will simply have to ensure that wolf populations remain locally in a favorable conservation state. Currently, slaughter shots can only be decided occasionally, by way of derogation, to prevent damage to herds.
20,000 wolves in the European Union
The Commission’s announcement, however, is only a first step. His proposal must now be taken up by the Council, then approved by a permanent committee of the Berne Convention (which brings together the European Union and fifty other states). A review of the Habitats Directive will also be necessary.
In a press release, the Commission says it responds to “requests for greater flexibility expressed by local authorities”. After a long history of persecution leading to the extermination of the canine in most European countries, the species has made a comeback and rebuilt its populations over the past twenty years.
Read alsoThe European Union will revise the protection status of the wolf
According to an analysis carried out by the Commission, “There are more than 20,000 wolves, with generally growing populations and expanding ranges, as well as breeding packs in 23 Member States “. The species is present in most countries of the European Union, some of them harboring more than a thousand individuals.
While this expansion is good news from a conservation point of view, it is causing growing conflicts with human activities, particularly livestock farming. “ The concentration of wolf packs in certain regions of Europe has become a real danger for livestock and, potentially, for humans », declared the President of the Commission in September, announcing that she was launching an update of data on wolf populations and their impacts. Ursula von der Leyen herself had a bad experience with wolves: in September 2022, one of them entered an enclosure on her family’s property in northern Germany and killed his old pony Dolly.
Protective measures
“This measure will not solve the problems and will probably be counterproductive, to the extent that the shooting leads to a breakup of packs and a postponement of attacks on easier prey”, notes Bertrand Sicard, president of the wolf protection association FERUS, who says he is “upwind” against the Commission’s proposal. “It is extremely rare to lower the protection status of a species”he laments.
The expert believes that a possible change of status will have no effect in France, “because our country already makes extensive use of exemptions”. Some 200 wolves, out of the 1,100 individuals present on the national territory, were killed there in 2023. And the 2024 – 2029 wolf plan does not exclude the possibility of increasing the “harvest” rate.
According to environmental defense associations, however, there is still much to do in terms of prevention. Herd protection measures, particularly at night, have shown their effectiveness. The Commission specifies that its funding will remain available “to support adequate investment in appropriate damage prevention measures, which will remain essential to reduce livestock predation”.
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