Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP), who co-submitted the ECR resolution, is pleased with the support (306 in favor, 225 against, with 25 abstentions).
“Wolves are strictly protected by the Habitat Directive, although they are no longer endangered. That outdated legislation must be amended,” he stated. “A new witch hunt on wolves,” calls MEP Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals) the appeal.
The number of wolves has rapidly increased under the protected status over the past thirty years to now more than 21,000 in Europe. Ruissen said that guard dogs and fences are no longer sufficient to protect livestock in pastures from wolf attacks.
The non-binding call to lower the protected status “once the wolf population has sufficiently recovered,” is addressed to the European Commission. Moreover, the governments of the EU countries must also agree. The protected status of the wolf is not only set out in the EU Habitat Directive but also in the “red list” of the Bern Convention.
By exception, problematic wolves can already be shot under current EU rules. In Austria, earlier this month, for the first time a wolf was killed by hunters in the southern province of Carinthia based on a provincial ordinance.
Based on DNA traces on sheep and cattle killed by biting, the identity of this aggressive wolf was confirmed. Ruissen believes provinces should already start making use of this option.
Currently, there are more than forty wolves living in the Netherlands. Three packs in the Veluwe and one in Friesland/Drenthe together had at least 16 pups this summer. Additionally, the presence of 19 lone wolves has been established. For the wolf population, researchers look not at individual wolves but at packs and pairs, and also at territories, which often cross borders.
This year, 621 sheep have already been killed by wolves in the Netherlands, more than twice the 279 from last year. Sheep farmers can receive up to 20,000 euros in provincial subsidies to take protective measures, such as installing electric fences and tall fences. But only in Drenthe has nearly 600,000 euros been paid out; in Friesland, Gelderland, and North Brabant only a few thousand euros.