Spain Scraps Wolves' Protected Status in Rural North

FILE PHOTO: An Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) exercises at Basondo Animal Refuge, in Kortezubi, Spain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) exercises at Basondo Animal Refuge, in Kortezubi, Spain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo
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Spain Scraps Wolves' Protected Status in Rural North

FILE PHOTO: An Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) exercises at Basondo Animal Refuge, in Kortezubi, Spain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) exercises at Basondo Animal Refuge, in Kortezubi, Spain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo

Spain's parliament voted to remove wolves' protected status on Thursday, four years after their inclusion, opening the way for the predators to be hunted again in the country's rural north.
Farmers hailed the measure, while conservationists deplored it as "tragic" both for wolves and the country's biodiversity.
Parliament's action reverses a measure introduced by the Socialist government in 2021 that extended protection for the wolf north of the Douro river. Controlled wolf hunting had been allowed until then in northern Spain, Reuters reported.
Efforts to protect the wolf in Europe are faltering after the European Commission last week proposed to downgrade the animal's protective status because of their growing number and the threat they pose to livestock.
A change of law in Europe could lead to the authorization of wolf hunting also south of the Douro, which until now is strictly prohibited.
Thursday's move by Spanish lawmakers was approved in an amendment to a law about food waste proposed by the conservative People's Party (PP). Controlled wolf hunting can restart north of the Douro when the law is published in a few days' time.
The Association for the Protection and Study of the Iberian Wolf on Thursday accused right-wing parties that voted for the amendment of "legal subterfuge" by burying it within changes to a law that had nothing to do with the environment.
"It is a tragic day not only for the wolf, but also for the rest of Spain's biodiversity," the association said in an emailed statement.
The agricultural association COAG celebrated the legislative change after years of organizing protests against the measure on behalf of farmers, who said their livelihoods were at risk.
COAG has said that wolves were responsible for the killing of 15,000 farm animals in Spain each year.
Environment Minister Sara Aagesen said before the vote took place that biodiversity policies should be based on science, and said that the government would study what tools it had to protect the wolf.



Injured Seals Get Care and Sanctuary at a New Center in the Netherlands 

A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
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Injured Seals Get Care and Sanctuary at a New Center in the Netherlands 

A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)

Gliding gracefully through the waters at his new home, Witje pauses briefly to peer through a large window at the curious and admiring visitors.

The 4-month-old gray seal is a lucky survivor able to swim in one of nine new tanks at the World Heritage Center, or WEC, a recently opened seal rescue facility in Lauwersoog, in the north of the Netherlands.

He was brought in after being orphaned and was suffering from a swollen flipper and a damaged eye.

“On a yearly basis, we roughly treat about 200 seals,” Sander van Dijk, the curator of the center, told The Associated Press. In 2024, researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands counted around 24,000 seals across the Wadden Sea.

Most are pups who get separated from their mother, known as howlers for their plaintive wailing. Others are injured by floating debris or are struck by passing vessels.

“If we look at our own data over the past 15 years, we just see every year more seals that somehow get entangled in waste in the sea, mostly fishing nets,” Van Dijk said.

The WEC, which officially opened to the public Saturday, replaces the Pieterburen Seal Center, a rescue facility set up in 1971 to treat injured seals found in and around the nearby Wadden Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Witje’s tank is an upgrade from his previous quarters. He gets to swim in water directly from the sea, rather than tap water, in order to maintain a habitat as close as possible to the seals’ natural environment.

“They are adapted to living in seawater. It’s good for their fur. But also seawater, through its salt, has some properties that makes wounds heal faster,” Van Dijk said.

The WEC can treat around 70 seals at a time and has 12 intensive-care units for animals with serious injuries who are able to recover in special enclosures which offer a calm environment. They are prevented from swimming in order to rest and the space is cleaned frequently to prevent infections from waste.

The new building, which cost over 40 million euros ($45 million), with financing provided by local and regional governments as well as charitable organizations, tells more than just the story of the seas. It’s an educational space which teaches visitors about the Wadden Sea, the largest continuous system of intertidal flats in the world, extending along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

The new facility is significantly closer to the sea than the previous location. The tanks for the 10 seals currently residing at WEC look out over the water. Caregivers at the center are optimistic that Witje will soon recover enough to be released back into the waves.