Wolves have adapted swiftly and surely to human-dominated landscapes. But people are struggling to adjust to the wolves. The concentration of packs, von der Leyen declared when announcing the commission’s review of wolf protection laws, “has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans”.

In December, the commission proposed to reduce the wolf’s status under the Bern Convention from “strictly protected” to “protected” in order to introduce “further flexibility” – potentially enabling wolves to be hunted and populations reduced across the EU.

Many populist politicians across Europe hope that talking up the threat of the wolf – alongside tough measures to tackle it – will win support ahead of next summer’s elections to the European parliament.

  • Lath@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    Any animal that eats and breeds without something to keep it in check will become a pest for its environment. We see this at every stage.

    • misk
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      11 months ago

      That’s an unusually tough stance on ponies.

    • Tarogar@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      Indeed, I recently had a discussion about just that with a family relative who is very adamant against wolves but then started complaining about all those beavers and deer over population. You can’t make it up. Is it a good idea to control that wolf population? Probably yes, can that wolf population help with solving other issues? Probably yes.

    • Thymos@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, human population levels have really gone out of control. Maybe the wolves can finally restore some balance.