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<\/p>\nSpain\u2019s La Rioja region has become the first in the country to allow hunters to keep wolves\u2019 heads as trophies since a ban on shooting the animals was lifted.<\/p>\n
From October 1, hunters can shoot a wolf and keep its head or pelt as a souvenir \u2014 for only the \u20ac1,298.67 cost of the permit. <\/p>\n
The order has prompted criticism from conservation groups as it could encourage more hunters and the number of wolves allowed to be killed is not capped in a clear way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means opening the door to indiscriminate wolf hunting,\u201d the WWF warned. Luis Su\u00e1rez, the group\u2019s conservation co-ordinator in Spain, said there was \u201cno scientific justification to kill the few wolves that inhabit La Rioja\u201d, describing the measure as \u201cpolitical and incomprehensible\u201d.<\/p>\n
WWF has filed a legal challenge with the superior court of La Rioja, asking for the order\u2019s suspension. Other groups have also challenged it in court.<\/p>\n
La Rioja holds one of Spain\u2019s smallest wolf populations: a single resident pack and four that overlap with neighbouring Castilla y Leon. The region lies at the eastern fringe of the species\u2019 range, considered vital for genetic mixing with wolves in Aragon and Catalonia, conservationists said. <\/p>\n
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Conservationists have protested against the end of the hunting ban<\/p>\n
MARCOS DEL MAZO\/LIGHTROCKET\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the north, culls are also under way<\/a>. Asturias has authorised the killing of up to 53 wolves, or 15 per cent of its population. Cantabria<\/a> has set a target of 41 animals, 20 per cent of its wolves, with more than half already shot by early September. Galicia included the wolf in its hunting orders for 2025, but a judge has temporarily blocked the measure.<\/p>\n Farmers\u2019 groups backed the government\u2019s lifting of a ban on shooting wolves this year in northern Spain. Wolves kill thousands of livestock each year. In Asturias, official figures recorded 2,126 attacks in a single year, killing 4,039 animals and costing farmers \u20ac1.54 million. Castilla y Leon reported 5,985 head of livestock lost to wolves in 2024 \u2014 almost 40 per cent more than in 2021. Nationally, estimates put the toll at 15,000 animals a year.<\/p>\n