Wolf protection downgrade set for green light in EU

Members of the Bern Convention, tasked with the protection of wildlife in Europe as well as some African countries, agreed in December to lower the wolf's status from "strictly protected" to "protected".

The downgrade came into force in March, and the European Commission moved immediately to revise related EU laws to reflect the change, which allows hunting to resume under strict criteria.

Barring a last-minute upset, EU lawmakers will give their approval on Thursday to the rule change, backed by the conservative, centrist and socialist groups in the European Parliament.

The European Union -- as a party to the Bern Convention -- was the driving force behind the push to lower protections, arguing that the increase in wolf numbers has led to more frequent contact with humans and livestock.

But activists fear the measure would upset the recovery made by the species over the past 10 years after it faced near extinction a century ago.

Echoing their concerns, green and left-wing parties were expected to vote against a change they denounce as politically motivated and lacking scientific basis.

"Downgrading wolf protection... panders to fear, not facts," warned Sebastian Everding of the Left group in parliament, saying the move "ignores effective coexistence tools".

Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe 100 years ago, but their numbers have surged to a current population of 20,300, mostly in the Balkans, Nordic countries, Italy and Spain.
No 'licence to kill'
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has made the case that "wolf packs have become a real danger especially for livestock" in some parts of Europe.

Lowering protections "will help local authorities to actively manage wolf populations while protecting both biodiversity and our rural livelihoods", she said when the convention change took effect.

In late 2022, von der Leyen lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into its enclosure on her family's rural property in northern Germany -- leading some to suggest the matter had become personal.

In practice, the EU rule change would make it easier to hunt wolves in rural and mountainous regions where their proximity to livestock and sheepdogs is deemed too threatening.

Von der Leyen's European People's Party (EPP), which has spearheaded the change, has stressed that member states will remain in charge of wolf management on their soil -- but with more flexibility than before.

To date, there have been no human casualties linked to rising wolf populations -- but some lawmakers backing the change warn that it may only be a question of time.

Spain's Esther Herranz Garcia, a member of the conservative EPP, cited figures showing that wolves attacked more than 60,000 farm animals in the bloc every year.

"The people who feed our country cannot be expected to work with this fear hanging over them," said France's Valerie Deloge, a livestock farmer and lawmaker with the hard-right Patriots group, where the rule change has also found support.

Socialist and centrist lawmakers -- while agreeing to back the changes under a fast-track procedure -- have struck a more measured tone.

"This is not a licence to kill," Pascal Canfin, a French lawmaker with the centrist Renew group, told AFP. "We are providing more leeway for local exemptions -- wolves remain a protected species."