Ursula von der Leyen is accused of having a vendetta against wolves over the death of her beloved pony

Ursula von der Leyen's pony, Dolly, was attacked and killed by a wolf in Germany Photo: Instagram

Ursula von der Leyen is accused of driving personal vendetta against Europe's wolves after one killed the European Commission president's pet pony.

Earlier this week, the commission said it could weaken protections for wolves by starting wolf reviews. EU laws to conserve the species, whose numbers are growing across Europe.

Ms von der Leyen, a German centre-right politician, said: “The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger to livestock and possibly , for the people.”

Her critics say Ms von der Leyen's announcement of a “new phase” in her approach to wolves is motivated by revenge for the death of her 30-year-old pony, Dolly.

< p>Dutch MP Leonie Westering said: “Are we going to allow Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to abuse her power for personal revenge because one of her ponies was the victim of a wolf?”

“Hunted”

“If a wolf will no longer be protected, there is a high probability that it will be hunted to extinction, as was the case in the 19th century,” said an Animal Welfare Party politician during a parliamentary debate in the Netherlands.

Ms von der Leyen, a keen equestrian and mother of seven, said her whole family were «terribly upset» after a wolf killed Dolly at her home in Lower Saxony, Germany, in the early hours of September 1 last year.

Based on DNA analysis, the culprit was identified: a wolf known as GW950m.

A permit to kill the animal was issued, but it expired before the wolf could be tracked and he remains at large.

The commission, which has previously rejected calls to weaken protections for wolves, has previously denied that Ms von der Leyen intends to avenge Dolly.

'Under pressure to outlaw murder'

The president is under pressure from the powerful agriculture lobby and her fellow CDU politicians in Germany will relax rules that ban almost all forms of killing or trapping wild wolves.

The issue has become a totemic issue for Europe's center right ahead of next year's European Parliament meeting. election in which EU green rules became the first battleground.

European farmers say growing wolf populations are threatening their livestock and livelihoods, with numbers at around 21,500, up from 16,000 in 2016.

Environmentalists say wolves are still under threat due to habitat loss and poaching.

Brussels has called on local authorities to use exceptions allowing the killing of wolves when justified , while they collect data on populations before taking into account changes in EU legislation.