"It is incredible that Switzerland, with a wolf population of two or three individuals, has the audacity to ask the Council of Europe to allow hunting," said Joanna Schoenenberger, a specialist in the WWF's European Alpine Programme.

Swiss officials said what they sought was a change in the wolf's status under the Convention from "strictly protected" to "protected", like the lynx, thus allowing controlled culling in order to maintain a manageable population level.

"The aim is to limit the scope for conflict with mountain farming," said one government official.

Wolves were driven to extinction throughout most of western Europe by the start of the 20th century, largely by hunting and the expansion of human settlements and upland farming into areas in which they had ranged free.

RETURN TO THE ALPS

But over the past few decades, partly as a result of the Berne Convention, some have returned to the Alps -- stretching from France across northern Italy and Switzerland to Austria -- with the help of conservationists.

Single animals came back to Switzerland from Italy in 1995.

"But none of these individuals have reproduced. Any culling in the Alps would be a disaster for the wolf population here," the WWF's Schoenenberger said in a statement.

The Strasbourg meeting, on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, is a session of the Standing Committee of the Berne Convention, named for the Swiss capital where it was signed and aimed at preserving European wildlife and its natural habitat.

The Council of Europe, which links countries inside and outside the European Union in the west and east of the continent, supervises implementation of the Convention.

Swiss officials argue that the wolf population presents a threat to local communities in mountain areas and to their livestock, especially sheep.