Wolves will lose ‘strictly protected’ status in Europe

A young wolf and his playmate in Zurich, Switzerland. | Steffen Schmidt/Keystone via AP

Wolves in Europe will go from being “strictly protected” to “protected” next year after the Council of Europe backed a proposal by the European Union to downgrade their status.

Conservationists are concerned about the survival of the species, which bounced back after being on the edge of local extinction, reported The Guardian.

“This decision is a green light to shoot wolves, given by the international community in white gloves,” said Marta Klimkiewicz, science and policy advisor at ClientEarth, as The Guardian reported.

Last December, the status change was proposed by the European Commission at the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats in preparation for amending the EU’s nature protection law, reported Euronews.

The downgraded status, which was welcomed by hunters, reduces the standards for shooting a wolf. The EU has said wolves kill 65,000 animals annually that were intended to be slaughtered for human consumption, The Guardian reported.

During the last two centuries, wolf populations were decimated across much of Europe. They recovered following habitat protections and regulations to reduce hunting, and it is estimated that there are now 20,000 wolves roaming the continent. The more robust numbers have led to increased conflict with farmers, who have called for culls in rural areas.

Animal rights activists said the move puts the wolf population — which once disappeared completely from France — at risk, reported AFP.

Sofie Ruysschaert, nature restoration policy officer with BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, said the downgrading of wolves’ protected status risked “undoing decades of European conservation progress,” as The Guardian reported.

There have been no documented killings of humans by wolves this century.

“The risk of downgrading this status is to weaken or even cause the decline of this species in Europe,” said Yann Laurans, head of WWF-France’s land biodiversity team, as reported by AFP.

Some have said the culling of wolves will not reduce attacks on livestock.

Nathan Horrenberger of the French Foundation for Biodiversity Research said the decision to lower protection for wolves in Europe is “not going to help solve the problems facing livestock farmers, because wolves have been shot in European countries for years… and it’s not bearing fruit.”

Horrenberger told AFP that killing wolves could actually disrupt pack behavior, creating “more solitary animals, who turn to easier prey, namely farm animals.”

Just five countries voted against the proposal, according to environmental association Green Impact, who referred to the decision as a “disgrace” and promised to bring it to European courts.

According to the commission, the status change will go into effect on March 7 of 2025, unless one-third of its members object.

Assessments by the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe suggest that one wolf population is vulnerable and five are “near-threatened,” The Guardian reported.

Scientists overall have said the wolf population in Europe could survive the change, but also warn it could be fatal for local populations hovering near the survival threshold.

“Downgrading a species’ strict protection status for the political gain of a few, against scientific evidence, puts decades of conservation efforts at risk,” said Sabien Leemans, senior biodiversity policy officer with WWF’s European branch.

This article was reposted from EcoWatch.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

Cristen Hemingway Jaynes covers the environment, climate change, oceans, the Arctic, animals, anthropology, astronomy, plastics pollution, and politics. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from the University of Oregon School of Law.