Wolf protection reduced in Europe. Is biodiversity at stake?

euronews (in English)

The wolf is no longer a “strictly protected species” in Europe.

Transcript

00:00We find living sheep in the morning, the suffering is huge, my herd is my family, I think I have the right to defend my family.

00:10The wolf is no longer a species that is strictly protected.

00:14This was decided by the member states of the Convention of Bern, accepting a proposal from the European Commission.

00:20Controversial proposal supported by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after a wolf had killed her pony in 2022.

00:29The wolf remains a protected species, but the member states will now have more flexibility to slaughter it.

00:37Breeders have been asking for less stringent rules on slaughtering for a long time.

00:41For environmentalist associations, on the other hand, it is a hard blow against biodiversity.

00:47Why has the status of wolf protection turned into a political issue of such broad proportions?

00:52We talk about it on European Stories.

00:59There are more than 20,000 wolves today in the European Union.

01:04A population almost doubled in the last ten years.

01:08In the last century, this species had been hunted almost to extinction in Europe.

01:13The Convention of Bern, which preserves flora and wildlife, had labelled the wolf as a species strictly protected in 1979.

01:23The wolf has a key role in the ecosystem.

01:25It can regulate the wildlife, reducing damage to agriculture and the forest.

01:31The return of the wolf is considered one of the greatest successes in the conservation of wildlife in Europe.

01:37A success that has cost dearly.

01:39Every year, at least 65,500 head of animals are killed in the Union.

01:44Member states spend almost 19 million euros a year on resources.

01:49The attacks on the beast in some regions have decreased, thanks to the use of preventive measures.

01:54In Europe, there have been no recorded deadly attacks on humans for 40 years.

02:05The wolf in France was totally eradicated in 1937, following an intensive hunting policy.

02:12The first specimens reappeared spontaneously for natural recolonization in 1992.

02:18Today, there are more than 1,000 wolves in France.

02:23Goats and sheep are the wolf's favorite prey.

02:25Every year, between 10,000 and 14,000 are killed in France,

02:29the European country that pays the most in taxes to breeders.

02:33In France, the wolf is considered one of the most dangerous predators in the world.

02:43I took over from my parents in 1997 with a herd of sheep.

02:49And we have a hundred pigs all year round.

02:55Breeding is a difficult job today.

02:57There are a lot of hazards and a lot of work to make very little money.

03:00And the wolf adds a stone to the burden that was already quite heavy.

03:10One night, a wolf came and killed seven sheep among the twenty I had on site in the farm.

03:18Eric explains that he has undergone three more attacks in recent years,

03:22and that he has lost a ring and two scrofes.

03:25We could minimize these attacks.

03:27These are still sufferings that the animals endure.

03:29I have been lying for 30 years, going in the morning to pick up dead animals.

03:36Eric admitted that he had been waiting for years for the state of protection of the wolf to be lowered.

03:42I have always asked to protect my sheep with a rifle.

03:46I was never given that.

03:48While we, breeders, are confronted every day with wolves,

03:52and we are the best placed to defend our herd.

03:59In France, specialized personnel can eliminate, with targeted killings,

04:0319% of the population of wolves.

04:07A population that in 2023 is reduced for the first time in about ten years.

04:13Do we need fewer wolves or more protection measures?

04:17The answer remains controversial.

04:19Yet in the French Alps, in addition to half of the agricultural companies that have received funding

04:24to introduce protection measures, have not undergone attacks.

04:28This is the case of Gilles and his wife Anne-Laure.

04:32With my wife, we settled on the farm of the Grand Vémont since 2018.

04:36The wolf already occupied this territory.

04:38So we came to know the cause.

04:42Protecting yourself is relatively expensive.

04:44When we put the wires, the electric fences, the dog's maintenance.

04:48If we add the shepherd, we can quickly reach a value of between 15 and 20,000 euros a year.

04:54I think we can estimate about half the charge by the state.

05:00Gilles, like most French breeders, is satisfied that the wolf is less protected

05:05in Europe, but thinks that coexistence is possible.

05:09We must absolutely eliminate animals that today have deviant behaviors.

05:13So that at some point the wolf is again afraid of the human being,

05:17without eliminating all individuals.

05:19And that we can live in good community between the breeders who need to live

05:24and the wolves who live in a wild territory.

05:36The Bern Convention has repealed the status of wolf protection several times.

05:41Not in December.

05:42About 300 environmentalist associations claim that it was a political decision

05:47without any scientific basis.

05:49I discussed it with the President of the Executive Board of the Convention.

05:57Do you estimate that by downgrading the wolf protection you are defending

06:01the European natural heritage?

06:03Giving more flexibility to countries eases some social conflicts.

06:07It can ease also poaching or poisoning.

06:10Because if people feel that governments are not able to make decisions

06:14in the cases of problematic animals, they might take the things in their own hands.

06:19But how are you going to check that member states are doing their job correctly?

06:24The countries have to report officially to the Bern Convention on all species

06:28and habitats every six years.

06:30And we have very strong NGOs in Europe.

06:33But NGOs are already saying that this decision is a potential disaster

06:38for biodiversity.

06:40The scientific arguments are that in most of the EU,

06:44the wolf population has been increasing very steadily.

06:47So as there are more wolves, you can kill more of them?

06:51I wouldn't say so, but the trend is positive.

06:54We should acknowledge not to keep the protection level for wolves

06:59species, which are quite abundant.

07:03How would you expect the wolves population to change now?

07:06It is very hard to know, of course.

07:08But I would truly hope that member states would not misuse this opportunity.

07:14That decision is biological, but also political,

07:18because it is about the saving of a species.

07:21But there are also socio-economic conflicts.

07:24And I think every country has to find a good balance.

07:29This decision could open the way for the displacement of other carnivores.

07:35The main conservative bloc in the European Parliament

07:38intends to lower the status of bear protection.

07:41Another key species.

07:43There is a lack of ecological balance, but also a potential threat

07:46for the animal and for man.

07:58World Wildlife Fund

08:00World Wildlife Fund

08:02World Wildlife Fund

08:04World Wildlife Fund

08:06World Wildlife Fund

08:08www.worldwildlifefund.org

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