The Galician courts have provisionally suspended wolf hunting in the region during the 2025-26 season.
Santiago de Compostela, July 23 (EFE).- The High Court of Justice of Galicia (TSXG) has issued an order provisionally suspending the Galician government's ruling that allowed wolf hunting during the 2025-26 hunting season.
In the court ruling, which EFE had access to this Wednesday, the Galician high court granted the precautionary measures requested by the Association for the Conservation and Study of the Iberian Wolf (Ascel) to prevent the possible deaths of this canine.
The second section of the TSXG's administrative litigation chamber understands that irreversible damage could occur to wolf populations if this temporary measure, which prioritizes the principle of environmental precaution, is not implemented and against which a reinstatement appeal may be filed.
This repeats the precedent initially set in the same court after the injunction granted in response to the appeal filed by WWF-Adena against the resolution of the Xunta de Galicia that allowed wolf hunting during the 2024-25 season when there was "verified damage" to the species' livestock.
Removal of the Lespre wolfThe latest amendment to the Food Loss and Waste Prevention Act included an amendment during its parliamentary process that allowed the removal of the Iberian wolf from the List of Wild Species under Special Protection (Lespre), which led to several autonomous communities authorizing its hunting.
In Galicia, these measures were never implemented, as only hunting was authorized in the following months, which did not result in the death of any specimens before the TSXG temporarily halted this type of hunting activity.
Ascel celebrates the decisionIn a statement, Ascel welcomed the fact that its reasons for requesting a halt to wolf hunting were met and maintains that this court ruling "reinforces" the "challenge" of the opposing rulings issued by other regional courts.
Among the reasons given by the organization for requesting the adoption of precautionary measures was that a "general reference to the existence of damage" was sufficient to authorize hunting activities, with no limit on the number of animals to be shot.
The legal argument of the Xunta de Galicia indicated that wolf hunting would only be permitted "in the case of repeated and proven damage to livestock," but the TSXG has ultimately decided to suspend the application of this resolution.
The Galician High Court also notes that the data presented demonstrates a limited population increase in the species, which is occurring mainly in areas shared with other autonomous communities, while in the rest of Galicia this expansion is not significant.
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