Por Redaccion 
WWF demands that Asturias and Cantabria withdraw their plans to kill wolves as they are incompatible with the conservation of the species. The Government of the Principality of Asturias presented its proposal on Thursday in Oviedo to resume the systematic persecution of the species, which had been halted in 2021 after its inclusion in the LESRPE.
«Asturias intends to kill 53 individuals by March 2026, over 15% of the regional population according to official estimates: an intolerable number for WWF, as it would be the largest wolf cull in recent history in the Principality,» stated the environmental association.
The organization warns about the cumulative impact of both plans for wolves, «which are in a state of unfavorable-inadequate conservation in Spain, requiring measures to ensure their long-term viability.» They recall that in July 2024, the European Court of Justice annulled the wolf hunting plan in Castilla y León, ruling that «the purpose of these measures must be to maintain or restore the species concerned to a Favorable Conservation Status.»
They argue that this status, according to European regulations, implies the obligation of regional administrations to ensure expansion to other territories and the growth of populations within their own geographical area: a legal imperative that remains even if the species is manageable, and is incompatible with the systematic and indiscriminate persecution that Asturias and Cantabria intend to resume.
Therefore, WWF calls on both regional administrations to withdraw these plans and opt for a species management based on science and coexistence. According to an analysis published this year by WWF, the support policies for damage prevention to livestock in Asturias and Cantabria are among the worst rated in the country.
WWF urges regional governments to prioritize and truly invest in measures to prevent and reduce damage, instead of promising wolf heads for pure demagogy and political opportunism: a strategy without any technical criteria that has been proven ineffective in resolving the conflict for many years.
«Sentencing a hundred wolves to death is a nonsense that jeopardizes the conservation of the species in our country,» stated the Secretary General of WWF Spain, Juan Carlos del Olmo. «The wolf is an ally of society and plays a vital ecological role in restoring ecosystem health, and using the rifle as a management tool is a primitive, populist, and illegal measure,» he added.