The European Commission is considering reducing the protection of the wolf. She will investigate whether and where it would be good to limit the number of wolves to prevent attacks on livestock or even humans. Shooting wolves is still prohibited in almost all cases.
In Wapse, a sheep farmer was bitten by a wolf at the beginning of July. The municipality of Westerveld then decided to have the animal shot.
Since the wolf has been seen more often in recent years in the Netherlands and other European regions from which it was chased, the animal has become the focus of a fierce social debate. Farmers feel that their livestock is no longer safe. Conservationists are happy with the return of the native predator.
Wolf packs in some parts of Europe have “become a real threat to livestock and potentially to humans,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The committee will therefore consider “a proposal to change the protection status of the wolf in the EU where appropriate”, she reports. The proposal will “introduce more flexibility where necessary in light of the evolution of this species”.
In order to decide on this, the EU’s Executive Board consults “local communities, scientists and other interested parties”. They can report until September 22 on the wolf stock and what it means. The committee does point out that EU rules already allow tackling ‘problem wolves’, for example. EU countries and lower governments should also use that space, believes Von der Leyen.
Last autumn, the European Parliament already called for more options to curb the rise of the wolf. But the committee then reacted defensively. SGP MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen is happy with the turnaround, because “it is high time that the protected status of the wolf was adjusted. This should also be a signal to the Dutch government, which itself has imposed even stricter rules on top of it.” .
Von der Leyen’s political family, that of the Christian Democrats, has long been advocating for the reduction of the wolf. With the European elections approaching, the Christian Democrats have recently distanced themselves more from nature and climate protection measures and are asking more attention for, for example, the farmer.