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The European Commission as announced has proposed easing the protection of wolves

by AI | 08.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

According to the European Commission, the wolf population in EU countries has increased significantly over the last 20 years.

Animal rights advocates criticize the decision for easier wolf culling (Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa)

The European Commission, as previously announced, proposed on Friday to ease the protection of wolves in Europe. In the habitat directive’s annexes, their status will change from “strictly protected” to “protected”, which will allow for the culling of these animals.

The change is intended to allow EU countries to cull wolves, though they will still have to consider the size of their population.

A change in the Bern Convention, sought by the European Commission, came into force on Friday. The convention is a document of the Council of Europe, an international organization based in Strasbourg.

The EC proposal will still need to be accepted by the European Parliament and the member states in the EU Council.

The EC proposed the change in the Bern Convention in December 2023. The media linked this proposal to a personal loss suffered by EC head Ursula von der Leyen – a wolf had previously killed her pony Dolly on a farm in Germany.

The Bern Convention on the conservation of wild European flora and fauna species and their habitats has so far been ratified by 51 parties, including individual countries within the Council of Europe, four African states, Belarus, and the European Union. Poland ratified it in 1995.

According to the EC, the wolf population in EU countries has increased significantly over the past 20 years. In 23 EU member states, there are over 20,000 animals of this species. The countries with the largest numbers, according to 2021 estimates, are Italy (about 3,000), Romania (about 2.5-3,000), Bulgaria (about 2.7,000), and Poland (about 1.9,000).

However, ecologists point out that the wolf population in Europe has not yet recovered, and the EC’s proposal is based on unconfirmed data. In December 2023, 300 NGOs protested against the relaxation of wolf protection. (07.03.2025)