Wolf killed her pony – Now EU head Ursula von der leyen wants a review of the wolf’s protection status in Europe

Published January 3, 2023 | By NewsJive.com

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der leyen, is apparently coming after the “Big bad wolf”, after a gray wolf had attacked and killed her beloved pony Dolly. Now the commissioner wants an investigation of wolves protection status in the whole EU.

It seems that the wolf messed with the wrong pony’s owner, not knowing that political power and influence can solve many issues. Especially private ones regarding themselves, then the wheels are sat in motion very fast of obvious reasons.

Von der leyen – who is also a professional dressage rider – is said to have taken the whole incident very hard. She had according to Politico said in a statement, “The whole family is horribly distressed by the news”. The tragic incident occurred on September 1, in Beinhorn near Hannover in Germany, where Dolly was found dead.

It is reported that Ursula van der leyen weeks after the attack, demanded an investigation and a total review of the wolf’s protection status in the European Union. She sent an “remarkable letter” to officials in the EU parliament on the subject of wolves:

“There are increasing reports of wolf attacks on livestock and increasing risks for local people,” von der Leyen wrote according to taz, and went on; “Understandably, this situation raises the question of whether the current protection status of wolves is appropriate in affected regions of Europe.” So far, wolves have only been allowed to be shot in very few exceptional cases.

Von der Leyen has explained that she has instructed the Commission’s services to check all the data to see whether the protection status needs to be changed. At the same time, she emphasized that the member states are already allowed to “remove” (kill), a limited number of wolves “in the interests of public health and public safety”.

It is reported that the Hanover region is now also using this opportunity against the killer wolf in question after van der leyen’s letter to the EU officials, to track the wolf down and “remove” it.

“A request for a special exception to the protected species laws was submitted and evaluated according to the relevant legal requirements,” according to Christina Kreutz, a spokeswoman for the region of Hannover told German news website taz.

When Kreutz was asked by Politico whether the The president of the European Commission had influenced this “special exception” with her power, to hunt down and kill the wolf, Christina Kreutz denied this.

“The attack on Ms. von der Leyen’s pony was not the reason,” Kreutz wrote in an email to Politico, adding that the application to have the killer wolf removed was filed earlier.  

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