protection of the species lowered –

Susanna Novelli

September 26, 2024

Revenge, as we know, is a dish best served cold. And Ursula von der Leyen, just re-elected as head of the European Commission, served him well. In fact, the proposal to lower the level of protection of the wolf in the Union from “strictly protected” to “protected” was approved yesterday by the permanent representatives of the member states at the EU, meeting in Coreper. The proposal, presented by the Commission at the end of 2023, was approved – coincidentally – on a very “crowded” day also from a media point of view given the simultaneous approval of the reform of the stability pact. The huge protest by over 300 animal rights associations, led by WWF, who in recent days had instead asked to strengthen the protection of the large carnivore, was useless.

But Ursula von der Leyen had promised it, already in her electoral campaign, last spring: «The protection status of the wolf must be lowered: it is not man who must adapt to the presence of the wolf, but it is the wolves who must learn to live with man.” How wolves should learn to coexist with man, unfortunately, he did not explain. Sin. The truth is that Ursula’s war against the wolf began in September 2022 when a specimen killed her beloved Polly, an elderly 30-year-old pony, in Lower Saxony. In the wake of the dramatic event, the President of the European Commission proposed to downgrade the status of the wolf in the Bern Convention from “strictly protected” to “protected” species, the oldest in the world for nature conservation and a cornerstone of all programs of European conservation. And not only that, via social media the number one of the European Union publicly called for local action against the presence of wolves.

There was never official confirmation of “external pressure” on the local authorities, but not even a month after the death of the elderly pony was an order issued in which the “killer” wolf, identified thanks to DNA with the acronym GW950m, was included in the list of specimens that can be killed in derogation of the protection rules. A “temporary” death sentence, expiring on January 31, 2023. And from here the mystery begins. The latest news found online dates back to April 2023. On the «Open» website there is a list of wolves «found dead» published by Lower Saxony. The last one on the list is GW950m. No specification on the causes of death, which in Germany are always examined and recorded. It is probable that the specimen was killed well after the expiry death sentence. A “tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye” which was not enough for Ursula who yesterday brought home the victory over canis lupus. Spain and Ireland voted against the “downgrading”, Belgium abstained. Now the process begins for the modification of the Bern Convention, which lists the species at risk. Power, after all, can.