About this map
Where wolves (Canis lupus) live permanently in Europe, coloured by when they first settled there: dark blue = present c. 1970, through light blue, to green = most recent. Method: cells of 10 x 10 km on the EU reference grid with permanent wolf presence, merged per period; each cell keeps the earliest period it was occupied. The c. 1970 range is an approximate, hand-drawn outline of the strongholds at the low point (NW Iberia, the central and southern Apennines, the Balkans, the Carpathians, eastern Poland, the Baltic states and Finland's eastern border). Later layers come from the LCIE expert maps for 2006–2011, 2012–2016 and 2017–2022/23 ('by' = first recorded in that survey, not that year); cells marked 'present' or 'undefined' (no split between permanent and sporadic, e.g. Greece and much of Italy) count as permanent. Germany is shown per monitoring year (May–April) from the DBBW's confirmed wolf territories since 2000. Not shown: sporadic presence (wandering wolves) and the east outside the LCIE survey (Russia, Belarus, Moldova and most of Ukraine), where wolves never disappeared. Places where wolves later vanished stay coloured. Sources: Kaczensky et al. 2024, LCIE distribution maps 2017–2022/23 (Dryad, doi:10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txrc); LCIE / Kaczensky et al. 2021, distribution 2012–2016 (Zenodo / Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.pc866t1p3); Chapron et al. 2014, Science 346: 1517 (maps for 2006–2011, Zenodo 4984260); DBBW territory data (dbb-wolf.de); Zimen & Boitani 1975 for Italy c. 1973; European Commission (c. 23,000 wolves in 2023, range up 35% since 2016).
Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/the-return-of-the-wolf-to-europe-19702026.md
Timeline
| Date | What the map shows |
|---|---|
| 1970 | c. 1970 · Last strongholds (approximate) |
| 31 Dec 1979 | 1979 · Protected under the Bern Convention |
| 31 Dec 1992 | 1992 · Strictly protected under EU law |
| 30 Apr 2001 | 2000/01 · First wolf pups in Germany, Lusatia |
| 30 Apr 2002 | 2001/02 · 1 wolf territory in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2003 | 2002/03 · 2 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2004 | 2003/04 · 2 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2005 | 2004/05 · 3 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2006 | 2005/06 · 3 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2007 | 2006/07 · 4 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2008 | 2007/08 · 8 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2009 | 2008/09 · 12 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2010 | 2009/10 · 13 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2011 | 2010/11 · 20 wolf territories in Germany |
| 31 Dec 2011 | By 2011 · Back in the Alps and Scandinavia |
| 30 Apr 2012 | 2011/12 · 23 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2013 | 2012/13 · 32 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2014 | 2013/14 · 41 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2015 | 2014/15 · 57 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2016 | 2015/16 · 72 wolf territories in Germany |
| 31 Dec 2016 | By 2016 · Wolves spread across Germany and Poland |
| 30 Apr 2017 | 2016/17 · 86 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2018 | 2017/18 · 122 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2019 | 2018/19 · 159 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2020 | 2019/20 · 189 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2021 | 2020/21 · 220 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2022 | 2021/22 · 244 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2023 | By 2023 · c. 23,000 wolves in Europe |
| 30 Apr 2024 | 2023/24 · 289 wolf territories in Germany |
| 30 Apr 2025 | 2024/25 · 287 wolf territories in Germany |
| 2026 | 2025 · EU downgrades the wolf's protection |
Layers
Present c. 1970 (approximate) · First present 2000/01 (Germany) · First present 2002/03 (Germany) · First present 2004/05 (Germany) · First present 2006/07 (Germany) · First present 2007/08 (Germany) · First present 2008/09 (Germany) · First present 2009/10 (Germany) · First present 2010/11 (Germany) · First present by 2011 · First present 2011/12 (Germany) · First present 2012/13 (Germany) · First present 2013/14 (Germany) · First present 2014/15 (Germany) · First present 2015/16 (Germany) · First present by 2016 · First present 2016/17 (Germany) · First present 2017/18 (Germany) · First present 2018/19 (Germany) · First present 2019/20 (Germany) · First present 2020/21 (Germany) · First present 2021/22 (Germany) · First present by 2023 · First present 2022/23 (Germany) · First present 2023/24 (Germany) · First present 2024/25 (Germany)
Events
- 23 Jul 1971, 1971 · Italy bans wolf hunting: With roughly a hundred wolves left in the Apennines, Italy's agriculture minister takes the wolf off the list of vermin and bans hunting and poison baits. Full protection follows in 1976.
- 19 Sep 1979, 1979 · Bern Convention signed: The Council of Europe's Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats opens for signature in Bern. It lists the wolf in Appendix II as a strictly protected species.
- 1 Jun 1983, 1983 · Wolves breed again in Scandinavia: A pair of immigrants of Finnish-Russian origin breeds in Värmland on the Swedish-Norwegian border, after wolves had been all but wiped out on the peninsula. Today's Scandinavian population grows from this pair and a few later arrivals.
- 21 May 1992, 1992 · Habitats Directive: wolf strictly protected: The EU adopts the Habitats Directive. The wolf goes into Annex IV (strict protection) and Annex II as a priority species, with exceptions for some populations such as Spain north of the Duero.
- 5 Nov 1992, 1992 · Wolves back in the French Alps: Two wolves are spotted during a wildlife count in the heart of Mercantour National Park, near the Italian border. They had come from the Apennines via the Alps; France had had no wolves since 1937.
- 1 Jun 1995, 1995 · First wolf returns to Switzerland: A wolf from the Italian population crosses into Valais and kills sheep in Val Ferret and Val d'Entremont, the first clear wolf record in Switzerland in decades.
- 1 May 2000, 2000 · First wolf pups in Germany: A pair that had walked in from Poland raises the first wild-born wolf pups in Germany since extermination, on a military training ground in north-east Saxony. Most German wolves descend from this family.
- 16 Nov 2012, 2012 · First wild wolf in Denmark in 200 years: A young male wolf seen by birdwatchers in Thy National Park in October is found dead there in November. DNA shows it was born in a Lusatian pack in Saxony, about 850 km away.
- 7 Mar 2015, 2015 · First wild wolf in the Netherlands: A young wolf from a German pack crosses into Drenthe and spends four days walking through the north of the Netherlands before heading back to Germany. It is the first wolf to reach the country on its own in about 150 years.
- 25 Aug 2016, 2016 · First wolf pack in Austria: Camera traps on the army's Allentsteig training ground in the Waldviertel show a wolf pair with young, the first wolves born in the wild in Austria in over a century.
- 1 Jun 2017, 2017 · First wolf pack in Denmark: Denmark's first wolf pair, settled in West Jutland since autumn 2016, is seen with eight pups. It is the first Danish litter in about two centuries.
- 3 Jan 2018, 2018 · First wolf settles in Belgium: Naya: Naya, a collared she-wolf born in northern Germany, arrives in the military areas of Belgian Limburg after a long trek south through the Netherlands. She is the first confirmed wolf in Flanders in more than a century.
- 20 Jun 2019, 2019 · First wolf pups in the Netherlands: Camera traps on the Veluwe film pups of the country's first resident wolf pair. It is the first wolf litter born in the Netherlands in well over a century.
- 7 Mar 2025, 2025 · Bern Convention downgrades the wolf: The wolf moves from 'strictly protected' (Appendix II) to 'protected' (Appendix III) under the Bern Convention. The Standing Committee had approved an EU proposal in December 2024; no objection blocked it within three months.
- 14 Jul 2025, 2025 · EU downgrade in force: Directive (EU) 2025/1237 moves the wolf from Annex IV to Annex V of the Habitats Directive, from strictly protected to protected. Member states can now manage wolves more flexibly, as long as populations stay in favourable condition.