Wolves now a menace

THREAT: STATUS COULD BE REVISED FOLLOWING FARMERS’ OUTCRY

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Well, quite a few European governments, it seems.

Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago but now, thanks to conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded.

The predator’s population growth has triggered howls of protest from farmers and concern from conservationists.

Last year, there were breeding packs of grey wolves in 23 countries of the European Union, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.

Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that had crept into its enclosure on her family’s rural property in northern Germany.

Brussels’s top official insists it is not a personal vendetta, but now she has wolves in her sights.

Several months after the attack, Von der Leyen warned that “the concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger, especially for livestock”.