Polish environment minister: Too many species are protected

Poland’s environment minister angers environmentalists after saying he favors reducing the number of protected species including elk and bison because some of the animals damage crops — but he adds it isn’t easy in an age of “excessive sensitivity to animal protection.”

Henryk Kowalczyk tells residents in the northern town of Mlawa that his ministry had suggested to regional environmental authorities that they might grant more permits to hunt elk, bison and beavers. These are all protected species under European law and the hunting of them is strictly controlled.

“We live in times of excessive sensitivity to animal protection, to put it mildly,” Kowalczyk said, adding that his predecessor, Jan Szyszko, had given permission for the hunting of elk but had to cancel that almost immediately under pressure. His remarks were only widely reported in Polish media Thursday.

“These are shocking words since these species are protected by Polish and EU laws and can be killed only under very well-defined and limited conditions,” says Agata Szafraniuk, a lawyer for the ClientEarth environmental group. “It is unthinkable that the environment minister publicly says that he gave instructions to bypass the law that he is supposed to be the guardian of.”

— AP