The Constitutional annuls part of the law of Castilla y León that allowed hunting the wolf

The plenary session of the Constitutional Court has agreed with the Government and has annulled several points of the hunting law of Castilla y León in which the wolf was considered a hunting species of large game, which meant that specimens could be shot against your current protection.

The killed piece was also valued at 6,000 euros.

The sentence supports the position of the Government, which filed an appeal of unconstitutionality against this regional regulation on the grounds that it contradicted the basic legislation on the environment and invaded state powers.

The Constitutional Court concludes that the contested precepts "violate the constitutional order" because "they lower the level of environmental protection" of the species.

Wolf hunting was prohibited throughout the national territory after its inclusion in the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime (LESRPE).

In it are the populations that need particular protection due to their scientific, ecological, cultural value, singularity, rarity or degree of threat.

Thus, the carnivore ceased to be considered a hunting trophy as of September 21, 2021. Until then, the canid was strictly protected below the border of the Duero River, where it is less abundant, and was hunted (it could be hunted) by north of that limit.

The Constitutional reminds that any action carried out with the purpose of killing, capturing, persecuting or disturbing the specimens of the species, subspecies or populations included in the list is prohibited.

Therefore, the precepts approved by the Castilian-Leon government in July 2021 are unconstitutional.

Both the Junta and the Cortes de Castilla y León, appearing in the appeal of unconstitutionality, recognized in their allegations that there was an “insurmountable contradiction” between the contested precepts and the state protection regime.

But they argued that the rule lacked a basic nature and that there were several contentious-administrative appeals against the cataloging of the species in the LESRPE pending resolution before the National High Court.

At present, a wolf specimen can only be captured with special permits from the Autonomous Administration and in the event that its conflict with livestock is demonstrated and that preventive measures have been applied that have not worked.

That is, it is not allowed to shoot the wolf recreationally.

The communities with wolves, Castilla y León, Asturias and Cantabria, where 95% of the species lives, have spoken out against the increased protection of the wolf because they consider that the attacks of the canid on the livestock in their territories are going to increase.

Castilla y León modified its hunting law a few months before the wolf obtained protection above the Duero river and classified the wolf as hunting.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition asked the regional government to reform the precepts that lowered the protection of the animal, but the autonomous community did not take it into account.

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