European Court of Justice rules that the prohibition of hunting wolves in Austria is valid

In a recent European Court of Justice (the ‘ECJ’) case the court considered whether there existed any exception to the rules protecting wolves and other vulnerable animals from hunting. This comes after an Austrian province has temporarily authorised the killing of a wolf, who was responsible for killing 20 sheep. Despite the wolves protected status under the Habitats Directive, the province cited the development of the wolf population in Austria. Several animal protection and environmental organisations contested this decision before an Austrian court, who referred the matter to the ECJ to clarify if the prohibition was still valid under the circumstances and if so what are the conditions for an exception to be made against the prohibition.

The ECJ stated that 4 conditions had to be met in order to grant an exception from the prohibition of wolf hunting.

1. The wolf population must be at a favourable conservation state at local level, at a national level and at a cross-border level.
2. The exemption must not harm the favourable conservation status at any of the three levels.
3. The wolf must be largely responsible for serious damage.
4. There must be no satisfactory alternative solution to prevent similar damage from reoccurring. Any alternatives must ensure no negative impact on the population status.

As the Austrian Government have admitted that the wolf population is not at a favourable status the ECJ decided that the prohibition against hunting wolves is valid in Austria.

Click here to read the case