GENEVA 

The European Court of Justice on Thursday confirmed a ban on wolf hunting in Austria. 

"An exception to this ban to prevent economic damage can only be granted if the wolf population is in a favorable conservation status, which is not the case in Austria," said a court press release.

Austrian animal welfare groups had criticized the government of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol after it issued a decision in 2022 in favor of hunting. The Tyrolean Provincial Administrative Court then asked the European court to interpret EU law on this issue.

According to the press release, the judges in Luxembourg examined the question of whether it is contrary to the principle of equality that wolves are exempt from the strict protection regime for the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora in some European countries, but not in Austria.

The judges ruled that, unlike other countries, Austria had not expressed any reservations about the high protection status of wolves when it joined the European Union in 1995.

"Insofar as the Austrian government assumes that the Union legislator should have lifted the strict protection of wolves in the meantime as a result of the development of the wolf population in Austria, it is basically free to file an action for failure to act, which it has not done to date," the judges argued.

Environmental group WWF Austria welcomed the ruling. "This is an important clarification: In the case of strictly protected species such as the wolf, lesser means such as herd protection take precedence. Shooting must only be the last resort," WWF species protection expert Christian Pichler said in a press release.

The provincial government of Tyrol, on the other hand, said the ruling would have no direct impact.

"The shooting regulations have proven their worth and we will continue along this path consistently. By applying a strict test standard, we can continue to remove harmful and high-risk wolves," wrote Deputy Governor Josef Geisler from the conservative Austrian People's Party.

In the press release, Geisler once again spoke out in favor of lowering the protection status of wolves.