EU plans less protection for wolves: animal rights activists on alert!

EU plans less protection for wolves: animal rights activists on alert!

Gland, Schweiz - The EU Commission plans to change a drastic change in dealing with wolves and wants to downgrade their protection status. This could enable the Member States to shoot wolves more easily, under the pretext that the wolf density in some regions is a serious danger to farm animals. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission, supports this step and emphasizes that local authorities had long asked for expanded powers. Despite these legal relaxation, both the EU Parliament and the member states still have to agree to the proposal, such as krone.at reported.

Objection by nature conservation organizations

The announcement meets violent criticism of nature conservation organizations, especially the WWF Austria. They warn that the hollowing out nature conservation in the EU threatens, which could have fatal consequences for endangered species and habitats. "This is the completely wrong way," explains WWF expert Christian Pichler. The WWF has been committed to preserving biological diversity and against pollution since its foundation in 1961. Instead, the WWF also demands more requirements for protection not only the wolves, but also other threatened species. According to the WWF, 80 percent of the protected species in Austria are already in poor condition, a situation that could further exacerbate the proposed change in the law, as wikipedia indicate.

The planned change in the law is not only seen as a direct threat to the wolves, but could also create a dangerous precedent for dealing with other protected species. Animal rights activists and environmentalists call up the public to stand up for more intensive nature conservation and the ambitious implementation of existing EU guidelines in order to secure the already endangered biodiversity in the long term.