Wolf, Dog, Human (II)

Who is more dangerous?

"The conservation status of the wolf in Europe is being downgraded from strictly protected to protected ."

An election gift from Ursula von der Leyen to her conservative clientele.

"Member States remain obliged to ensure the favorable conservation status of the wolf. They are also free to continue to classify the wolf as a 'strictly protected species' in national legislation and to maintain more stringent protection measures."

The German Federal Government has reported a favourable conservation status to the EU.

According to the EU Habitats Directive (FFH), a "favorable conservation status" means that there is sufficient habitat and food supply to ensure the long-term survival of wolves. The population of wolves is then considered to be so large that it cannot become extinct again in the future, for example, due to disease, traffic accidents, or poaching.

Federal Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (CSU) announced that the next step would be to vote on the amendment to the Federal Hunting Act.

He wants to improve the protection of grazing animals

In addition, a new assessment of the wolf population should be carried out in other parts of Germany. As a result, the animals' protection status could be lowered throughout Germany.

The German Hunting Association (DJV) stated that the current assessment was based on outdated data. Furthermore, the long-overdue determination of the "favorable" conservation status of the wolf as a whole was deliberately prevented by the division into individual regions.

The change in EU law thus simplifies faster shooting.

The German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) called the assessment "politically motivated rather than scientifically sound."

The wolf remains rare in twelve of the 16 German states. WWF Germany criticized the fact that by reporting the wolf for a single region, the Federal Republic is endangering "a central principle of European species protection law, namely the protection of migratory species."

The legitimate concerns of nature conservation and agriculture must be addressed equally," said the SPD parliamentary group leader.

What is happening here.

Is the wolf not a creature worth protecting?

Does this justify the increase in illegal killings?

The number of illegal killings has increased dramatically in the past year.

The states of Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania stand out.

Yes, this is where the highest wolf density in Germany is found. But does that justify the tenfold increase in illegal killings since last year?

According to experts, the wolf population in Germany is far from reaching the status that would allow it to be declared in a favorable conservation status.