01 Dec
2006 - Strasbourg, France – It is still illegal
to hunt wolves throughout Europe, despite a bid
by Switzerland to downgrade the animal's protected
status.
For the second year in a row,
the Swiss authorities proposed transferring the
wolf (Canis lupus) from "strictly protected"
to "protected" under the Bern Convention
on European wildlife conservation. If the Swiss
proposal had been approved, it would have allowed
some hunting of the species across Europe.
The European Commission, with
support from WWF and others, argued that wolf
populations have not recovered in most EU member
states, and that a further weakening of protection
was seen as unnecessary. Croatia, with up to 170
wolves after a long recovery phase, also did not
support the downlisting.
“The proposed amendment was
unjustified and unnecessary," said Gerald
Dick of WWF’s Global Species Programme. “To add
insult to injury, the Swiss authorities have cut
back on herd protection measures and are now blaming
the wolves.”
The decision comes less than
a week after a wolf, reported to have killed around
30 sheep, was shot dead in the Swiss canton of
Valais. It was one of only around a half a dozen
wolves found in Switzerland.
Legally, the convention allows
wildlife to be killed under exceptional circumstances,
as Switzerland argued after shooting the wolf
in Valais a couple of weeks ago.
WWF is considering pressing
criminal charges against the local government
for their action.
Wolves first returned to the
Alps in 1985. Today, more than 100 wolves live
in the French and Italian areas of the western
Alps. Wolves are dispersing slowly towards Switzerland
and the eastern alpine region.
Switzerland has just 3-4 wolves
that live along the border with Italy.
