On Monday 11 September, several NGOs voiced their “deep concerns about the misleading information” disseminated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the presence of wolves in Europe.
With regard to the dangers for humans and livestock, “the messaging in the press communication [by Ms von der Leyen] is misleading, and it preempts the result of the public consultation”.
The claim that the concentration of wolf packs has become a danger to livestock and potentially to humans “is not based on science”, according to the NGOs (WWF, EuroNatur, etc.).
In Europe, the wolf is not considered dangerous to humans, the NGO points out. “Damage to livestock is often linked to the lack of adequate supervision and/or physical protection,” according to these NGOs.
They point out that tools are available at European and national level to prevent and compensate for the economic damage caused by wolves, and find it “incomprehensible” that the Commission has announced the collection of data on the ‘challenges linked to the return of wolves’ for a period of 18 days via a dedicated e-mail address.
On the basis of the data collected, the Commission will decide on a proposal to modify, if necessary, the protection status of the wolf within the EU (see EUROPE 13242/5). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)