Wolf packs ‘real danger’ in Europe, EU chief warns. It’s personal for her

The return of wolves to parts of Europe threatens livestock as well as people, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned, promising a review of the predator’s protected status.

Wolves had once been hunted almost to extinction in Europe but in the 1950 countries began granting them protected status resulting in their populations to grow in several regions of Europe.

“The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans,” Ursula von der Leyen said.

She urged local communities, scientists and officials to submit data on wolf numbers and their impact to a European Commission email address. Using this information, the commission will decide on how to modify wolf protection laws “to introduce, where necessary, further flexibility”.

The president of the European Commission has had a personal experience of the alleged threat posed by wolves. In September 2022, a wolf crept into a paddock on the family’s rural property in northern Germany. In the incident, Ursula von der Leyen’s elderly pony Dolly was killed, it has been reported.

Conservationists have hailed the return of healthier wolf populations to Europe’s mountains and forests as the large predator is seen as part of the natural food chain. Under the EU Habitat Directive, first adopted in 1992, the wolf enjoys protected status.

The EU chief urged “authorities to take action where necessary,” adding, “Indeed, current EU legislation already enables them to do so.”