Wolves in danger: New EU regulation influences Upper Austria's hunting policy!

Wolves in danger: New EU regulation influences Upper Austria's hunting policy!

In the past few weeks, the topic of wolf in Austria has accepted new dimensions. Agricultural Councilor expects great changes from the recent development around the protection status of the wolf. A judgment of the European Court of Justice on Estonia could be crucial. These legal steps open up the Member States for urgently needed measures to regulate the wolf populations and at the same time take into account the needs of people. Wochenblatt reports that experts see the possibility of a targeted inventory regulation.

The implementation of the wolf regulation in Upper Austria is still a long time coming, which also complicated the situation. However, the state has not leaned back, but developed a monitoring strategy to observe wolf populations together with other federal states. Upper Austria positions itself as a pilot region for wolf monitoring and has already initiated steps to form the state of maintenance. However, the results of this surveillance are still in the floating.

changes at EU level

At the European level, Parliament recently voted 371 votes for a proposal to change the protection status of the wolf. The plan provides for a classification of "strictly protected" to "protected" according to the Bern Convention. As European Parliament , the Member States receive more scope for the management of the management of the management To find wolf populations. This strategy could help to defuse the conflicts that arise from growing wolf stocks in livestock farming.

The proposal to change the law must now be formally assumed by the council, which is already planned for April 16, 2025. After the publication in the EU's official gazette, Directive comes into force 20 days later and must be implemented by the Member States within 18 months. The European Commission is certain that over 20,000 wolves live in Europe whose stocks continue to grow.

new guidelines for wildlife protection

In addition, the European Commission has already published new guidelines for the protection of protected animal species such as the Wolf in 2021. These guidelines are part of the EU's Habitat Directive and aim to reconcile the protection of rare and endangered species with human activities. describes the guidelines for both practical advice for authorities as well as for authorities Participants offer and contain clear information about the obligations from the Wildlife Directive.