Spain scraps wolves' protected status in rural north

FILE PHOTO: An Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) exercises at Basondo Animal Refuge, in Kortezubi, Spain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament voted to remove wolves' protected status on Thursday, four years after their inclusion, opening the way for the predators to be hunted again in the country's rural north.

Farmers hailed the measure, while conservationists deplored it as "tragic" both for wolves and the country's biodiversity.