Countries across Europe have backed a proposal to lower the protection status of the continent’s wolves, in a major win for the European Union and for farmers who want more freedom to shoot animals that threaten their livestock.
At a meeting in Strasbourg on Tuesday, members of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats approved a bid to modify the status of wolves from a “strictly protected” to a “protected” species, according to a press statement.
This clears the way for the EU to modify the Habitats Directive and make it easier for national authorities to grant derogations to kill wolves deemed to pose a threat to farmers’ livestock. That process is expected to take about a year.
It’s a personal victory for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who campaigned to get this proposal through EU governments, and whose pet pony Dolly was killed by a wolf in 2022.
