US EditionEU parliament adopts final decision to relax wolf protection, sparking extinction fears
- EU lawmakers are set to approve downgrading wolves’ protection status from strictly protected to protected, effective since March 2025.
- This change follows the Bern Convention's December 2024 agreement and reflects increased wolf populations causing more human and livestock encounters.
- The revision, led by the conservative EPP and supported by centrist and socialist groups, allows hunting in rural and mountainous areas under strict criteria.
- Wolves now number around 20,300 across Europe, attacking over 60,000 farm animals yearly, though no human casualties have occurred to date.
- While supporters argue the measure aids coexistence and rural livelihoods, critics warn it risks undermining wolf recovery and denounce the move as politically motivated.
163 Articles
163 Articles
European Union Lowers Protection for Surging Wolf Populations Due to Danger to Farmers and Livestock
While some scientists have decided that it’s a ‘great idea’ to bring back from extinction the big dire wolves of olden days, in the real life, the lupine packs present a real danger and a dividing issue in Europe.
Greek Court Orders Removal of Wolves from National Park Near Athens, Sparking Backlash
Wolf populations near Athens have been growing since the fire on Mount Parnitha in 2007. Credit: Gunnar Ries/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.5 The prosecutor for animal protection of a Greek court has ordered the removal of wolves from Mount Parnitha National Park near Athens and their transfer to a mountainous region in northern Greece, sparking a backlash from scientists and conservationists alike. The directive, issued about ten days ago, orders…
▶️ The wolf is now a “protected” species in the European Union, and no longer a “strictly protected” species. MEPs in fact endorsed this downgrade on Thursday, the result of a previous similar vote by the member states of the Berne Convention. Defenders of biodiversity denounce this change which, in France, should however not change much. - Why did MEPs change the level of protection of wolves (Environment).
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