A majority of EU Member States agreed to adopt the European Commission’s proposal to downgrade the protection status of the wolf under the Bern Convention. This shift opens the door to wolf culling as a false solution to livestock depredation, which runs counter to Europe’s commitment to safeguard and restore biodiversity. The decision which cannot be scientifically justified went through after Germany changed its position from abstention to support.
With this decision, Member States have chosen to ignore the call of over 300 civil society organisations, among others EuroNatur, and more than 300,000 people urging them to follow scientific recommendations and step up efforts to foster coexistence with large carnivores through preventive measures.
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Wolves are strictly protected under both the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive, serving as a keystone species vital for healthy ecosystems and biodiversity across Europe. Weakening their protection will hinder the ongoing recovery of wolf populations.
‘The EU’s decision will not only destabilise the still fragile wolf populations in large parts of Europe, but also undermine the significant progress made towards a coexistence of humans and wolves,’ says Antje Henkelmann, project manager and wolf expert at EuroNatur. ‘Only efficient herd protection can prevent livestock kills. Instead, the EU is focussing on symbolic but inefficient culls. With her turnaround, the Federal Environment Minister is not only weakening wolf protection, but also giving in to populist demands that are of little use to livestock farmers,’’ says the biologist.
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I mean a little girl was bitten quite severely a few weeks ago around here. I’m not saying this is the best choice but it’s also easy to make a glib offhand comment about a complicated situation.
You’re more likely to die of a wild boar attack or of a cow than a wolf in europe.
I don’t think a single unprovoked attack this decade and no deaths from wolf attacks in Europe in the 21st century make this a “complicated situation”.
This isn’t about humans but about farmers. Someone I know just recently told me that they lost a few sheep to a wolf attack. Of course they wanted to be refunded, but the officials who checked if he’s eligible for a refund found one short area where his fence was 2 cm too low, therefore he didn’t get anything. He sold his remaining animals and stopped, just like a few of his colleagues who’d stopped before already.
This decision isn’t because of wolves but because the system didn’t work.
Isn’t that kind of on him? If he didn’t meet the minimum requirements, what’s the controversy? Yes the govt could have made an exception, but then the next person who’s 3 cm short points to him as an example, and there we go.
I mean, the current level of cattle breeding is not compatible with long term survival of human beings, so the system is not working regardless of wolves.
I assume you’re hinting mass producing farms, those aren’t affected by wolves anyway (and cattle isn’t, it’s more about smaller animals like sheep). The ones who are affected are the ones who don’t have as many animals but let them be outside.
To prevent being affected by wolves they could of course keep their sheep indoors, but then they aren’t getting organic meat certificates anymore leading to less money, requiring them to keep much more sheep. Which is not what should be encouraged.
So let’s ban all dogs too then, right?
And cars. Since on european roads, more than 20.000 people got killed. (Source)
Dogs do get killed if they bite someone.
So let’s only kill the wolves that kill people then…?
Tell me where I said to kill all the wolves?
That’s in the context you replied to, see the comment of FTM99. If you want to say something in this branch of conversations but without the things implied by the previous messages, you need to specify that.
Your hyperbolic comment about banning dogs didn’t make any sense in context to the previous comment.
At this point I am not sure what to answer. The context is that there was an attack so that kind of makes killing them okay. I asked if we then apply the same logic to dogs, which kill lots(!) of people every year compared to a single case in >20 years for wolves.
Source please.
https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/3777023/meisje-werd-beslopen-en-aangevallen-vader-en-bso-doen-hun-verhaal-over-de-wolf Here’s a dutch source about the bite btw. Wouldn’t call it severe but the wolf did stalk and attack her. Also another child was pushed over by one, and a dog bitten.
They didn’t shoot the wolf btw. Think it just left.
It’s possible to change the language of the article as I’ve seen. Thanks for the link, it was an interesting read!
I’m glad the girl has not been severly injured. Of course, such things should not happen. The parents must have been extremely worried about their child, let alone how terrified the child was. I hope it won’t stay traumatised from that.
Yesterday, I’ve also read on another occasion about the other child being rammed by a wolf. I think it’s possible to educate people in a manner such they can deal with their children and pets responsibly in areas where wolf populations exist. Wolves don’t attack humans without reason. According to the article you’ve linked, a behavioural biologist states that the wolf bit her lightly as a warning to stay away. Of course a 5 year old child doesn’t understand this. But it should be possible in this case to implement precautions for the supervisors. Maybe fence off the school ground, get educated how to handle wolf contacts, install auditive deterrents on a frequency only wolves can hear and so on. This can help to improve a peaceful co-existence between humans and wolves.
It’s not surprising that incidents like these can tilt the public opinion against wolves. Which is why it’s even more important to highlight other non-lethal alternatives as solutions.
Yeah 1 girl bitten, 1 girl pushed, 1 dog bitten and 1 dog just dragged away into the forest while leashed. And the government doesn’t know what to do, they don’t want to shoot them. Of course if the population of wolves increases these things will happen more often. That’s why I said we just don’t have the space. This shouldn’t be able to happen if people here don’t even believe it.
May I ask where this happend?