In Spain there is a group that has been aware of the wolves. And they are not the zoologists, animalists, hunters or farmers. Even more so that they are politicians who have spent the last years discussing The legal status of the Canis lupusa delicate issue that has generated a deep debate. The last arrives from Asturias, where the Principality has taken A decision Radical: Allow hunters to shoot the wolves in certain community reserves.
Not everyone believes it is legal.
What happened? What Asturias will allow That hunters shoot Lobos during their beaters in certain areas of the Principality, those reserves in which there has been an increase in cattle attacks. The decision, which has already generated an intense debate and has encountered The frontal opposition of the animalists, directly connects with a series of legal changes that have gradually cracking the legal shielding of which the Canis lupus.
What do Asturias want to do? Open the door to the hunters to participate in the reduction of the population of Lobos. As a “complementary control method”, the Ministry of Rural Affairs has decided that hunters of those regional reserves “in which a greater number of damage to cattle have been detected” can shoot wolves during hunts scheduled to capture other species. That is, it gives the green light to the hunters so that (if certain conditions are met) they can reduce them while looking for prey.
“The goal is Clarifies the Principalitywhich has also asked that in the “most affected” hunting preserves the guards participate in the controls together with the natural environment agents.
Why do you do it? To answer that question you have to go back several months, to April, when the Government of Asturias presented its annual “road map” (applicable until the end of March 2026) to “reduce damage to the primary sector and social conflict” related to the wolves. That is, its ‘Wolf Management Plan’an official document that among other things clarified how many catches of Canis lupus The Asturian authorities have authorized.
In that document It was revealed that the minimum wolves are around 345 copies and, based on that, the Ministry of Rural Affairs has decided to give green light to “the extraction of a maximum of 53”. Even the maximum number of animals that would be “extracted” in each area of the Principality was required, some guidelines were given on the periods to carry out “the controls” and it was clarified how they will be carried out.
Among them, in addition to the beating made by the environmental agents of the Principality, It was already progressing that one of the options contemplated by the plan was to resort directly to the help of hunters in regional reserves.
But the wolf was not protected? Throughout the last months the status of the wolf has changed considerably. And with him he has done his legal armor. In Spain the most relevant novelty It happened in March. During the processing of A law of food waste (yes, you have read well) Congress approved several amendments centered on the wolf. And among them there was a specific one that returned the species to the situation in which it was before 2021year in which the Canis lupus It had been added to the list of wild species with special protection (Lespre).
In the practice that the wolf appeared in the Lespre valed the hunting of specimens north of the Duero, something that already happened south of the river. The decision of the Congress to take it out meant that the Peninsular North packs lost their armor, which in turn opened the door for the autonomous communities to decide on their hunt. The Principality itself I recognized Last April that launched its ‘Wolf Management Plan’ after the last changes in Lespre. It was not the only one.
Cantabria did something similar. In fact rtpa It revealed This same week that the community has already “extracted” more than half of the wolves of the quota authorized for the 2025-2026 period, which translates into 25 copies of a total of 41.
And why do you turn to the hunters? That is one of the keys to the controversy that has emerged in Asturias. The Principality explains that it has decided to allow hunters to shoot wolves while looking for other species in reserves for “Increase efficacy” of the plan, which provides for the “extraction” of a maximum of 53 wolves. There are those who have seen in that argument an alarm signal.
“If the reason for involving hunters is the difficulty in reaching the number of dead wolves established in the quotas, perhaps the cause is not so much the lack of efficiency of the method to hunt them, but the shortage of wolves itself, something that seems that the Asturian government does not even value,” warns The Wolf Protection Fund, very critical of the new decision of the Principality.
How many wolves are there? In spring the regional government calculated that the wolf is present in 83% of the Asturian territory, where some 45 herds inhabit between 360 and 405 animals. “Since 2001, the year in which 22 herds were registered, the population has shown a general growth trend, as well as the damages caused by livestock,” Concrete the Principality.
To be more precise, remember that last year damage to 3,257 head of cattle and the cost of compensation grew to exceed the million and a half euros were confirmed. These figures are those that justified the control plan, although It is unknown How many wolves have fallen in the community today.
Have there been reactions? Yes. And of different types. The Government insists in which his is a “balanced positioning” between the preservation of the species and the interests of farmers and ranchers, but the truth is that everything related to the legal framework of the wolf has been involved in a deep debate for months.
The hunters They recognize Having received the last announcement from the Principality with satisfaction and remember that “it is more effective to shoot a wolf when you see to go looking for it.” The animalists They are not so clear That the law allows them to reduce specimens, regardless of what the Principality decides. “It generates great uncertainty and will rigorously analyze if the filter of the regulations passes,” they warn after recoding that (beyond the Lespre) the wolf is not A hunting species.
The legal status of the wolf has not only spoke in Asturias or Cantabria. He has also done so in other regions, including south of the Duero and in other EU countries. So much so that Just a few months ago Brussels also decided to degrade The legal status of the species, making it pass from “strictly protected” to only “protected”, something that had a special impact for southern packs.
Images | AR Higher School of Environment (Flickr) and Enmanuel Rodríguez (Flickr)
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