The wolf and its protected status

Today's vote to weaken the protected status of the wolf has brought nature conservation organizations across Europe to the barricades.

"The EU member states' proposal to lower the protection status is not scientifically sound and would send the wrong signal. It would put the European Union at risk of losing its pioneering role in nature conservation," says WWF species conservation expert Christian Pichler. "A potential amendment to the convention would pave the way for a watering down of the entire Habitats Directive - with far-reaching consequences for other endangered species and the entire nature conservation of the EU."

What is really needed, however, is a well-planned livestock protection offensive.

"As native wild animals and predators, wolves are a natural contribution to biodiversity," says Pichler. "They prevent the spread of diseases and ideally also strengthen the important protective forests because they can reduce excessive game populations."

In an open letter, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union also speaks out against a weakening of the protection status and also speaks of "... far-reaching consequences not only for the wolf, but for the protection of all endangered species." Here, too, the much more necessary promotion of effective herd protection is noted as a sustainable solution.

Knowledge gaps in the population

A lack of knowledge contributes to the fact that untrue myths about wolves continue to circulate. According to the Austrian wolf report published yesterday, 43 percent of Austrians believe that wolves can reproduce uncontrollably and 27 percent are of the opinion that they primarily feed on livestock - both of which have been refuted by scientific studies.

Tierschutz Austria sees this as a clear sign that the wolf is being "misused" in the nature conservation debate.

And the reality?

So far this year, only 65 wolves have been recorded in Austria, and their total numbers have been repeatedly decimated by unlawful regulations and illegal shooting. Most adult wolves are only considered to be migratory anyway. There are currently only five resident wolf families in Austria.

"This means that the species is still a long way from the legally required favorable conservation status, as confirmed by the European Court of Justice in July," confirms Christian Pichler from WWF.

Should the EU protection status be lowered by one category following an amendment to the Bern Convention, the legal requirement that the wolf must be brought into a favorable conservation status would nevertheless remain.

According to the environmental protection organization WWF, however, federal states such as Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol are currently primarily pursuing an unlawful shooting policy which, according to experts, clearly contradicts the ECJ ruling on wolves. At the same time, the responsible state councils are neglecting professional herd protection and the EU funding available for this purpose.

To summarize, this is a very large and complex issue. We hope for a future-oriented decision that takes all aspects into account and, above all, is ethically motivated and does not see species protection as an empty slogan.