Minister angers wildlife activists

Poland’s environment minister has angered green campaigners after saying he favours reducing the number of protected species including elk and bison because some of the animals damage crops.

Henryk Kowalczyk added that culling these animals would not be easy in an age of “excessive sensitivity to animal protection”.

Mr Kowalczyk told 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 hunting them is strictly controlled.

The minister said: “We live in times of excessive sensitivity to animal protection, to put it mildly.”

He added that his predecessor, Jan Szyszko, had given permission for the hunting of elk but had to cancel that almost immediately under pressure.

His remarks, from Sunday, were only widely reported in Polish media yesterday.