Tag: Austria

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EJC has ruled against Austria on wolf hunting

Wolves have only recently returned to Austria, with an estimated 80 wolves spread throughout the country. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, that animal welfare activists, took the government to court, when it set cull numbers at 20, or 25% of the population a year.

The Austrian government had pointed to a condition in the 1992 EU directive on protecting wildlife, which states that wolf hunting to prevent financial damage can only be done if the population is in a favourable conservation status – something certainly not true in Austria. This condition can only apply to a wolf population which is stable.

I would also suggest that plans to kill 25% of the population each year, should also damage this, but this is a discussion for another day – when the population is far larger than it currently is. Other countries like Holland have similar sized wolf populations, and so this ruling could be applied in a variety of places.

Regional governments have absurdly argued that the wolf is no longer endangered in Austria, and that therefore its protection should be reduced. had the government listened would a ruling similar to the USA have come forward? Such that open season could be declared?

It is a good thing that wolves are so good at holding on, as we have spent much of our time attacking.

It is funny to think, that it is estimated our relationship with wolves (in the form of domesticating them as dogs) likely goes back to a similar point to the advent of growing crops, and well before the time that we started to keep livestock.

Given our fondness of dogs has deeper roots than our fear of wolves, it seems odd, that wolf persecution ever really got underway. It is true that wolf populations do need handling, but their existence is more good than bad. Places like the UK where they are missing, show this (when looked at the situation rationally)

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The EU restoration plan was postponed in March, yet passed in August – what will it do, and will the UK do something similar?

There is still large areas of wildernesses in places like Romania, but this needs to spread across the continent.

What will it do?

  • Restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 
  • Restore all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050 
  • Set legally binding targets for nature restoration in terrestrial, marine, freshwater, and urban ecosystems 
  • Maintain and increase urban green space and urban tree canopy cover 
  • Restore at least 25,000 km of rivers into free-flowing rivers by 2030 
  • Plant at least three billion additional trees by 2030 

This plan was dropped in March as a result of Hungary blocking it, as well as Austria and a variety of other groups. It is unfortunate, that often in order to meet an agreement, the environmental rules are often watered down so much as to become meaningless. It was cleared, after Austria changed its mind (it should be noted that the Hungarian MEPs were in favour and it is only the Hungarian government that got in the way – as they often are; unfortunately the leader of Hungary Victor Orban is not helpful, and is often the block for the EU. Whether this will change in the near future is anyones guess.

Still this will have to be implemented across the continent to be useful. Having said this, should it be successful it is likely to have a big impact.

Lynx (eurasian)

Eurasian Lynx

Eurasian Lynx: found across Russia, down into central Asia, Eastern and Northern Europe: After reaching its minimum around the middle of the 20th century, it has recovered in different directions. While no where near its natural numbers in much of its range, it has expanded numbers in the north in Scandinavia, and the north-west Scandinavia. Reintroduction schemes have also reintroduced them to the Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland (and France) and Poland. There are currently thought to be around 50,000 left in the wild, however their distribution is highly varied from country to country, and there are many areas where they are locally extinct.

 

Alps (including Julian and Balkan extension)

The Alps as well as the Julian, and the Dinaric Alps

A vast mountain range in central Europe, covering almost 300,000 square km (115,000 square miles). This place would naturally have been a wildlife haven. However lying at the center of Europe, the wildlife populations have been extirpated (a word for local extinction) from different sections of this range over the centuries. Importantly, the Alps have also had human settlements dating back a very long way (indeed, there is traces of Neanderthals in the alps 40,000 years ago. As such it is essential that as the wildlife populations are allowed to recover, this happens in a way that benefit the local human population.

One of the best-known and largest range of mountains in Europe, the Alps are a large mountain range that is shared between France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. Measuring around 1200 km wide and 250 from top to bottom, this mountain range is huge. It includes Mont Blanc the tallest mountain in Europe. The part of the range covering Italy and Slovenia are also sometimes called the Julian Alps. Beyond this, with almost no gap, the Dinaric Alps, which lie in the Balkans continue this chain, stretch from Southern Croatia through Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and on into Kosovo and Albania in the Southeast. 

As with other mountain ranges in Europe, there are a number of mountain specialists such as alpine marmot and chamois, as well as ibex. Due to the relative isolation of mountain ranges, generally each has its own subspecies of animals such as ibex and therefore there are often not that many making them prone to local extinction. Below you will find links for each European Alpine country, this will go into more detail on each countries success at preserving the big 3 – bear, wolf and lynx; the smaller creatures can generally be seen throughout the alps, though many are altitude specific. 

French Alps in the summer

The Alps have a small but growing population of all of the 3 big predators of Europe wolf, bears and lynx. As in other parts of Europe there ride has been bumpy, however they appear to now be starting to do far better. Mountain ranges such as this, can often supply a last refuge of various wildlife due to the difficulty of hunters and Poachers from getting into the mountains often enough to eradicate them completely. A large mountain range like this which struggles so many countries can provide highways between different countries to allow the animals to recolonize.

There are currently about 100 wolves, split between the French and Italian Alps, with around 40 on the German side. It is thought that eight have crossed the border into Switzerland, though most of these are individuals so it is not thought there have been many successful raising of young. A Swiss wolf protection group estimates that there are now 300 wolf packs roaming the Alps. Now given the number of countries that it covers, this is not a high number, though it does suggest that recovery is well on its way.

There is a population of about 30-40 bears in the Italian Alps, though these are sparsely populated, and continue through the Apennine mountain range along the center of Italy (it is thought that there are around 60 of these bears in total). Lynx spread throughout parts of the Alps there are areas where they are not present. There is a good number in the west Alps where they are thought to be spreading nicely. Also exist in the east, in places like northern Croatia.

Obviously this is a large area, and therefore although the places you can go to increase your odds of seeing wildlife. I will attempt to build a network of pages to help in this search, though as with any wildlife watching nothing is guaranteed. 

Mountains are less used by humans so when wildlife returns it can thrive
Lynx are shy, and rarely seen, they are highly important for the ecosystem
Italian bear in the Alps Copyright VOLODYMYR BURDYAK

The Alps are spread across France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. These countries can be well split in two as far as their wildlife watching prospects. France Italy Germany and Slovenia all have populations of wolves bears and lynx, while these are usually small they are established either naturally or through reintroduction. 

Liechtenstein is too small to have a permanent population of any of these animals that is sustainable on its own in the long term, though from time to time animals are likely to wander across the border. Switzerland has no bears, though it does host about 80 wolves and about 100 lynx split into 2 populations (one of those is in the alps). Austria is thought to have two wolf packs , and also has a small number of bears that have returned from neighboring countries.

However, all countries in the Alps have healthy herbivore populations, including alpine marmots, chamois, ibex and even the Alpine Salamander is wide spread. This means that a hike in the Alps should lead to animal sightings, and children are likely to be fascinated if they are quiet enough to see any of the wildlife around you. While the predators are returning, there are still parts of the Alps where sightings are highly unlikely, and even in high density areas, expect to spend much time sitting quietly in order to get lucky. Having said that, the Alps are full of vantage points from which you can sit with binoculars or a telescope and keep watch over a large area – your best chance of seeing these charismatic but shy animals.

Below is a link to each of the countries, with more localized information and places to stay.

See Animals Wild