AnimaNaturalis submits objections to the Wolf Management Plan in Cantabria

On July 16th, the draft Decree approving the Wolf Management Plan was published in the Official Bulletin of Cantabria. AnimaNaturalis has submitted objections warning that this document not only fails to comply with the legal conservation obligations set out in state, European, and international regulations, but also relies on inflated population estimates to justify the killing of up to 20% of the region's wolves each year.

The plan uses the argument of "social conflict" to legitimize the removal of specimens, ignoring that there are effective preventive methods, which are legally mandatory, to protect livestock. Numerous scientific studies and the European Commission itself agree that killing wolves does not reduce damage to livestock and, in many cases, increases it.

Furthermore, Cantabria has maintained the same number of breeding groups since 2019, meaning the increase in attacks recorded in the plan is largely due to administrative changes in damage assessment, not a real population increase.

The wolf in Spain is classified with an "unfavourable-inadequate" conservation status and the law requires prioritizing non-lethal preventive measures. The plan, however, proposes zoning and measures designed to artificially limit the expansion of the species and facilitate lethal control.

"This plan is not only unjustified and obsolete, but it also seriously violates national and international legislation. The Government of Cantabria must comply with the law and protect the wolf, not look for excuses to keep killing it", concludes Cristina Ibáñez, lawyer for AnimaNaturalis.