Wolves face new threats as Europe lowers protections
Wolf populations in danger of culling and hunting for sport as the European Commission votes to strip back protections for the species under Bern Convention.
The European Commission has agreed to downgrade the protection status of wolves, in what campaigners say is a politically motivated decision that will have dire consequences for the species.
Members of the Commission gathered in Strasbourg on Tuesday 3, December, where they agreed to reclassify the wolf from “strictly protected” to “protected” under the Bern Convention.
The downgraded protection status will be enacted in three months unless at least one-third of the parties object.
The decision follows lobbying by farming bodies and populist political figures who have long called for wolf protections to be scaled back to prevent attacks on farmed animals. The EU estimates that wolves kill 65,000 animals each year before they can be slaughtered for human consumption.
Conservation organizations have slammed the decision, warning it will undermine the decades of slow progress to recover the species from the brink of extinction.
“Stripping wolves of their protection risks undoing decades of European conservation progress,” said Sofie Ruysschaert of BirdLife Europe and Central Asia. “Instead of investing in science-based coexistence measures between humans and wildlife, leaders have chosen a political narrative that scapegoats wildlife for broader societal challenges.
“Downlisting wolves won't solve the challenges faced by rural communities, but it sets a dangerous precedent: decisions shaped by populism over science,” Ruysschaert added.
Wolves were intensively hunted to extinction across many parts of Europe in the 19th and 20th century. During the 1970s, conservation efforts to prevent hunting and protect habitats began to revive diminished populations, leading to an estimated 19,000 wolves now in the EU, according to a report by the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE) .
Despite this success, conservationists and environmentalists warn that the recovery of wolves is still “fragile”, calling for coexistence measures rather than increased culls, such as guard dogs and electric fencing.
LCIE evidence suggests five wolf populations are near-threatened and one is vulnerable. This means that although the overall wolf population may not be devastated, local populations hovering near the survival threshold could be wiped out.
Multiple NGOs have also slammed the decision to weaken wolf protection as devoid of any solid scientific foundation, arguing that it is politically motivated.
“All decision-making relating to the protected status of wildlife species must be based on robust scientific evidence,” said Dr Joanna Swabe, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Humane Society International/Europe (HSI). “Instead, decisions on wolves have clearly been driven by political expediency and succeed only in appeasing vocal interest groups, such as hunters, who prefer to take recourse to rifles, rather than seeking coexistence with large carnivores.”
Léa Badoz, Wildlife Programme Officer at Eurogroup for Animals mirrored this, calling the wolf the “the latest political pawn, a victim of misinformation”.
“Downgrading protection will not solve the challenges of coexistence nor help farmers. It is based on misconceptions and threatens wolves, while failing to provide real support for farmers and local communities, many of whom are in favour of coexistence with the wolf. Proven coexistence measures must be the priority, and the EU should help through financial means.”
“Downgrading protection will not solve the challenges of coexistence nor help farmers,” said Badoz “It is based on misconceptions and threatens wolves, while failing to provide real support for farmers and local communities, many of whom are in favour of coexistence with the wolf. Proven coexistence measures must be the priority, and the EU should help through financial means.”
Experts also warned the move could have far-reaching consequences for other species on the continent.
“The EU decision-making on lowering legal protections for wolves sets a dangerous precedent for other European species, such as bears and lynx,” said Swabe.
“Large predators, particularly apex predators, are one of our best allies to combat climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss,” said Enrique Perez, the chairperson of the European Alliance for Wolf Conservation (EAWC). “So we shouldn't have the perception that it's a conflict or a problem, but it's the opposite.”
Help Species Unite change the narrative for wolves by getting involved in our Wolves in Schools program. Sign up here to download your free digital Wolf Education Guide available for grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Please share with the educators in your life.
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