Spain bans recreational hunting of wolves
Spain intends to ban recreational hunting of wolves nationwide. The wolf is classified as a strictly protected species. A milestone for wildlife conservation.
For years, conservationists in Spain have been campaigning for recreational hunting of wolves to be banned entirely.
Iberian wolf placed under protection
The Commission for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity has voted by a narrow majority to include the Iberian wolf on the list of protected woodland species. As a result, wolves may no longer be hunted anywhere in Spain.
There are estimated to be between 2,000 and 2,800 wolves in Spain — more than in any other country in Western Europe.
A milestone for animal welfare advocates
As early as 2019, researchers had submitted a report to the government recommending that the Iberian wolf be added to the list of particularly protected woodland animals, on the grounds that its presence is important for ecosystems. The commission's current decision is not yet legally binding. It is now up to the Ministry for Ecological Transition to implement the resolution.
««We have begun to change the story of the wolf», commented the WWF on Twitter.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier The Role and Criticism of Recreational Hunters we shed light on the training, power and self-image of recreational hunters. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
