Wolves in Europe
Anti-wolf sentiment is growing elsewhere in Europe too.
A pony belonging to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s was killed by a wolf in 2022. She made a statement in 2023 saying that “the concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans,” which prompted several wildlife and conservation charities, including the WWF, to issue a response, calling her words “misleading” and “not based on science.”
кракенVon der Leyen welcomed the news last month that the Bern Convention committee had decided to adjust the protection status of wolves, calling it “important news for our rural communities and farmers… because we need a balanced approach between the preservation of wildlife and the protection of our livelihoods.”
It’s true that the wolf population in Europe has increased over recent years. Wild Wonders’ Widstrand calls it “a major, fantastic comeback conservation story.”
There are approximately 1,500 wolves in Germany and 3,300 in Italy, according to conservation reports. Widstrand notes there are even 120 wolves in Belgium. “These countries are vastly smaller than Sweden and more densely populated,” he pointed out.
Yet rural affairs minister Kullgren says wolves are affecting Swedish society “more significantly than before.”
Kullgren said there were “parents who are afraid of letting their children play in their backyard, farmers who are afraid to let the animals out to graze due to the risk of wolf attacks and dog owners who are afraid that their beloved pets might get attacked while walking on forest paths.”
But Beatrice Rindevall, chairperson of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, told CNN on Thursday that the government was scaring people unnecessarily and that there hadn’t been a wolf attack on a person since 1821.
“The government is very much adding fuel to the polarized debate,” she added.
Orrebrant, chair of the SCA, said that if the EU follows the Bern Convention committee’s decision, which comes into effect on March 7, and decides to downgrade the wolf’s protection status, “that will allow countries like Germany, Italy or Spain to hunt in the same way that Sweden does.”
