Dozens of countries on Tuesday approved downgrading the protection status of the wolf in Europe, a move activists say will upset the recovery made by the species over the past 10 years after near extinction a century ago.

Wolves in Europe will be less protected from hunting from 2025, after a majority of European countries on Tuesday accepted a proposal to downgrade their status due to their growing number and their impact on agriculture and farming livestock.

European nations have approved plans to scale back the protection for wolves in a victory for farmers over environmentalists that has caught the political limelight in the European Union

The European Commission wants to change wolves' protected status, allowing nations to cull them.

Change in status under Bern Convention on nature protection could expose burgeoning wolf populations to culling and hunting for sport. View on euronews