Wolves in EU lose safeguards, allowing culls as numbers soar

Wolves keep down deer and boar populations, and also help to suppress disease, campaigners say [Jozef Fiala, Arolla Film, Slovakia]

Campaigners also pointed to a 2023 EU report, which states that only around 50,000 of Europe’s 68 million sheep and goats are killed by wolves each year – 0.065% of the total number – adding that the overall impact of wolves on EU livestock is “very small”.

Moreover, it says there have been no fatal wolf attacks on humans for 40 years.

“If we expect countries like India or Indonesia to protect their tigers,” says Laurent Schley, head of the Wildlife department in the Luxembourg government, “and Africans to protect lions and elephants, then we as relatively rich Europeans should be willing to tolerate some wolves.” Luxembourg is one of the few western European countries where no wolves have been sighted yet, Mr Schley believes it’s only a matter of time.

“We have very high densities of deer and wild boar, so the conditions for the wolf are there.

“Of course, if individual wolves or packs start killing too much livestock, or were to show aggression towards humans, we would have to draw the line. Human safety always comes first.”

Wolves can devastate flocks of sheep [BBC]

But back on the mountainside, József says wolves are dangerous because “they’re clever animals”. He favours tougher legal measures to cull the predators.

Bears approach through the forest, treading on branches and alerting his dogs, József says: if they break into the wickerwork enclosure where his herd stay at night, they will only grab one animal.

If a pack of wolves get in though, they can kill dozens of sheep at a time.

Last year, József’s favourite dog, Moody, was killed by wolves, in broad daylight, as they moved from one pasture to the next. All they found was his bloodied pelt.

The more wolves there are, József says, the more likely they will take his sheep.

And it takes a long time to train a good dog.

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Publish date : 2024-12-02 21:48:00

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