Last week the Romanian government decided on a total ban on the trophy hunt of bears, wolves, lynx and wild cats. An unexpected but very welcome move, that hopefully will save the lives of thousands of wild animals. Officially the big carnivores were already protected, but a loophole permitted hunters to shoot the allowed quota. In 2016 hunters the numbers were astoundingly high: 550 bears, 600 wolves and 500 big cats over 12 months could be killed. Every year the many hunting organisations supplied the government with two numbers; the estimated population size and the number of animals that were EXPECTED to cause problems. The hunting qoutas were based on these numbers. Thankfully this loophole has now been closed.

Source: theguardian.com