Tierschutz Austria has received sensitive information that demands attention.
At a federal states meeting this coming Monday, 29 July 2025, several federal states – most notably Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Carinthia – are attempting to reach a political agreement to declare the so-called “favourable conservation status” of the wolf in Austria, in order to legitimise the hunting that has long been practised.
And this, despite the fact that favourable conservation status under EU law is clearly tied to scientific criteria that are nowhere near being met in Austria.
What is being planned here is no minor offence – it is a political act of deception at the expense of species protection law, warns Michaela Lehner, legal expert and head of the legal department at Tierschutz Austria.Scientific data are being ignored, in-house specialist bodies are being bypassed – and all of this in order to enable even more cullings in defiance of the applicable legal situation. Austria has killed more wolves in two years than Germany has in twenty years!
The current 2024 Status Report from the Austrian Centre for Bear, Wolf and Lynx – a state-mandated specialist body – makes it clear: across the whole of Austria, there are currently only four reproducing wolf packs. The Federal Environment Agency also noted in the last Habitats Directive report of 2019 that the wolf has only recently re-immigrated. A stable population, as would be required for a “favourable conservation status”, does not exist.
“As long as Austria has no functioning monitoring system, there is no legally defensible basis for assessing conservation status – neither for the wolf nor for other species,” Lehner continued.
Species protection sacrificed on the political altar
The debate has come to a boil because EU member states must submit a so-called FFH report to the European Commission every six years on the conservation status of their protected species and habitats. The current FFH report is currently being drafted and was originally due to be submitted by the end of July.
The technical basis for this: a scientifically sound monitoring system. In Austria, however, such monitoring for the wolf and many other species is still in its infancy.
ECJ rulings: politicians plan public breach of law
Several rulings of the European Court of Justice (including C-601/22, C-674/17, C-629/23) emphasise that favourable conservation status may not be determined politically, but exclusively on the basis of objective criteria. These include, among others:
a sufficient number of reproducing packs
a stable and, where possible, expanding range
suitable habitats of sufficient size
a standardised, long-term monitoring system
Austria meets none of these requirements — and yet the politically motivated declaration is imminent.
„Anyone who undermines European law in order to pursue populism at the expense of protected animals is endangering the credibility of our rule of law — and public trust in environmental policy," criticises Leona Fux, biologist and species protection expert at Tierschutz Austria.
Other species also affected
What is currently happening with the wolf is only the tip of the iceberg: the FFH report assesses hundreds of animal and plant species and habitats — its evaluation has a direct impact on protective measures, funding programmes and legal scope. “If the FFH report becomes a political bargaining chip, entire ecosystems are up for grabs,” Fux concluded.
Unterstütze unsere Arbeit
Mit deiner Spende hilfst du, Tiere zu schützen und ihrer Stimme Gehör zu verschaffen.
