France loosens rules on allowing farmers to shoot wolvesWolves have been killing more livestock in France, with 12,000 animals lost last year. Once hunted to extinction in France, wolves began crossing over from Italy after gaining protected status under the 1979 Bern Convention. But they have been killing more livestock, too, with 12,000 farm animals lost last year, according to preliminary figures. Under current rules, farmers can only shoot wolves if they attack animals inside a protected enclosure -- a restriction centrist President Emmanuel Macron's government said would now be relaxed. Wolf protections are getting a downgrade across the European Union, after EU lawmakers last year approved reducing wolves' status from "strictly protected" to "protected".

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2026 03:25 UTC