Spain to ban hunting of wolves in ‘historic’ victory for conservationists

Spain is home to around 2,500 wolves

Credit: Rafael Marchante /REUTERS

Spain’s government has said it will introduce a complete ban on hunting wolves in a move that has prompted joy from environmentalists and fury from many in the rural communities where the species thrives.

Conservationists described the decision as “historic” in a country where wolves almost went extinct thanks to a deliberate eradication campaign between the 1950s and 1970s. 

Regional authorities in northwestern Spain have vowed to fight the ban, however.

A vote on Thursday over the Environment Ministry’s plan ended up tied, allowing the ministry to cast the decisive vote, which means the wolf will now become a protected animal species.

“The order adding the wolf to the list will be published in a matter of days,” a spokesperson for Environment Minister Teresa Ribera told The Telegraph.

Until now hunting of wolves has been allowed north of the Duero river, where the vast majority of Spain’s approximately 2,500 wolves live.

Castilla y León, the region with the highest proportion of Spain’s wolves, issued licences for the shooting of 339 wolves over three years between 2019 and 2022, drawing criticism from conservationists who said the figure was far too high.

Farmers and hunters say it is vital to control the wolf population to prevent hill farmers from giving up their profession.

Ignacio Valle, the president of the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation (RFEC), said the ban was a “sectarian” policy by a government that “ignores the view of rural people”.

Donaciano Dujo, the leader of the ASAJA farmers union in Castilla y León, was more direct, inviting Minister Ribera and environmentalists to take wolves from the region and “keep them as pets in their homes — if they like them so much”.

“Every year in Castilla y León more than 4,000 farm animals are killed by the murderer better known as wolf,” Mr Dujo added.

Spain’s government said that it is working on a new plan to conserve and manage the wolf population to ensure “safe coexistence with human activity”, as well as to guarantee compensation for farmers who lose livestock and improve measures to prevent attacks.

Juan Carlos del Olmo, leader of WWF Spain, welcomed what he hoped was a “first step towards changing a model based on persecution and death of wolves to a new and more appropriate 21st-century approach to conserve the species in coexistence with human activities”.

But a joint statement by the governments of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y León said they would use every possible method to block the ban.