"No reduction this year"

Why the wolf remains “strictly protected” for the time being

For months, attempts have been made at European level to change the protection status of the wolf from "strictly protected" to "protected".

(Bild: APA/dpa/Julian Stratenschulte)

As is well known, the protection status of the wolf was to be lowered from "strictly protected" to "protected" at European level, making it easier to shoot if necessary. However, this is unlikely to happen this year at least. A vote planned for June did not take place. When a new vote will be held and what the prospects are. 

A new ruling by the European Court of Justice is currently causing a stir throughout Austria: several animal welfare and environmental organizations are fighting the decision by which the Tyrolean government temporarily approved the killing of a wolf before the Tyrolean Provincial Administrative Court. However, the Provincial Administrative Court of Tyrol doubted the validity of the ban on wolf hunting.

The European Court of Justice examined the case and found on Thursday that the examination did not reveal anything that could affect the validity of the strict protection of wolves in Austria. However, this could change as a result of the Europe-wide lowering of the protection status from "strictly protected" to "protected". This has been sought for several months, particularly by ÖVP representatives in Austria. A majority of EU agriculture ministers also wanted to lower the protection status of wolves and in May called for a vote on this in the Council of Environment Ministers on June 17. Austria's Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP) raised the issue again in May.