“Today, European wolves have been degraded. Today, nature conservation in Europe has been degraded,” the Fund said in a statement.

On 8 May, with 371 votes in favour, 162 against and 37 abstentions, the European Parliament approved the reduction of the wolf’s status from “highly protected” to “protected” in the EU.

The new status, which had already been given the green light by the Council of the EU, where the member states are represented, and which was presented by the Commission, allows for the management of the wolf population, namely through hunting.

The vote, the statement said, was preceded by the report of the European Economic and Social Council (EESC), which advised against reducing wolf protection in Europe, instead focusing on prevention, education, awareness-raising and social mediation measures.

The report argued that scientific data shows that the systematic elimination of animals does not reduce conflicts with livestock, unless it is carried out at unsustainable levels and outside the law, and recommended preventive measures such as fences, dogs, shepherds or swift compensation for those affected.

The EESC also called for intensified surveillance protocols against poaching and illegal practices, among other measures.

“All this is in danger of being wasted after today’s vote,” says the Fund, which will be liaising with European environmental groups to assess possible legal action following the “regrettable decision”.

At the end of April, the Asturian government published a resolution approving the annual plan to cull 53 wolves, and the Fund has announced that it will initiate all legal and administrative actions to prevent this from happening.

The Fund had also appealed against the Cantabrian government’s resolution approving the culling of 41 wolves.

The European Parliament’s vote was also criticised by European environmental organisations, who today in a statement recalled that the issue began in September 2023, when the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, advocated reducing protection for the species after the death of her pony, Dolly, allegedly due to a wolf attack.

In December 2023, the European Commission proposed reducing protection for the species under the Bern Convention. Just a year earlier, the EU had rejected the same proposal for lack of a scientific basis.