In Lower Saxony, in 2022, a wolf attacked and killed Dolly, Ursula von der Leyen’s favourite pony. Strategically, this was a terribly poor move on the wolf’s part. The president of the European Commission is a passionate equestrian. Citing “numerous reports of wolf attacks on animals” and an unsubstantiated “increased risk to local people”, Von der Leyen requested an in-depth analysis into the wolf’s status in Europe. On the basis of that analysis, the European Commission voted last year to downgrade the wolf’s level of protection, and on Monday, that directive formally entered into force. With it began a whole new chapter in our relationship with the wolf.
Wolves have been undergoing a remarkable resurgence. By the mid-20th century, they had been pushed almost to extinction in Europe, but a combination of EU conservation measures and the abandonment of agricultural land means that today there are more than 23,000 across the continent, a species of least concern. In a biodiversity crisis, it is heartening to see nature’s capacity to heal if we let it.
