Taking Aim: First Wolf Hunt in 45 Years Expected In Sweden
For the first time in 45 years, a wolf hunt is expected to take place in Sweden. In October, the Swedish parliament made the decision to limit the wolf population to 210 animals and will issue hunting permits in areas where the wolves have reproduced in the past three years.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce the hunt quota sometime this month, which is expected to be between 20 and 40 animals. The hunt, which will occur in several regions of the country, is expected to take place in January and end before mating season begins in mid-February.
The reason for the hunt? According to Susanna Lofgren, head of Wildlife Management Division of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, “The main reason for the decision is to raise the (public’s) acceptance of wolves” by limiting their numbers.
The number of wolves in the country has increased over the years. Last winter’s census estimates between 182 and 217 wolves existed in Sweden. Domestic and wild animal attacks and sightings in residential areas are also on the rise.
In 2001, neighboring Norway took part in a controversial culling of wolves. Sweden opposed the plan.
Wolves photo by Daniel Mott
One expects better of the Swedes – killing things to make them more acceptable to the populace… sounds more like Berlin 1939 than Stockholm 2009.
If humanity cannot justify culling it’s own I don’t see how it can justify killing marginal species.
I am stunned, wtf, we haven’t killed wolves in a long time, lets do it this weekend…
bring the wife and kids.
wake tf up people, it’s a LIFE! they want to live as much as YOU do.
I was just reading some history of wolves in Sweden recently. Wolves killed a lot of people in the old days as well as taking a heavy toll on their livestock. One report showed 20 people killed in just one winter, and several more injured from attacks. If folks survived a wolf attack back then, the wolf could not have been rabid, as rabies was ALWAYS fatal. The hunting methods they used were unique to the region. Hunters on skis armed with long spears.
TLM, I’m Swedish myself and I’m following the ongoing slaughter with the utter most disgust. There hasn’t been any reports of wolves attacking humans in sweden for tha last 120 years. I don’t know what you are refearing to, but I’m pretty sure you are misinformed. Spear hunting wolves has not ever been in practice unless you are refearing to the dark ages, year 1400 B.C or earlier. The current hunt is the result of simpleminded hunters with a thirst for blood lobbying the goverment to have it their way. We have extensive finansial support to put up electric fences and compensate farmers for lost livestock. What’s happening now i a discrase and I’m honestly ashamed of my country, which is not someting I’m used to. It’s sweden after all.
And now Sweden became the shame of the European Union. Unfortunately the Swedish Hunting Association is very influential and its members set in the Parliament. What can we do?? So… a country like Sweden with an area of 449,964 km2 has 200 wolves and those corrupt parliamentarians say they are too more…. What a hypocrisy, shame on you ! !
I’m also a swede and i feel really ashamed about the ongoing slaughter of our rare wolves.
It has very little scientific support and is the result of a populistic decision to appease a small but very loud minority of hunters and livestock owners living in the countryside.
I urge people all over the world to stop buying swedish goods and services in protest and express their disgust publicly.
Sweden is a small nation that is dependent of trade and thus very sensitive to your actions. Save the wolves!
/Tom
Good idea Tom.
Please contact the Swedish minister of enviroment and tell him what you think and that you will buy nothing from Sweden as long as they listen to a small group of hunters and allow hunting on a population of just a couple of hundred wolves.
You can contact him, Andreas Carlgren, trought this site,
http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/1682
click the link: e-post till Andreas Carlgren via registrator
You can also write to the minister of agriculture, Eskil Erlandsson, a fanatic hunter who has himself worked hard for this disasterous carnivore policy, on this link
http://www.regeringen.se/pub/road/Classic/article/117/jsp/Render.jsp?a=70261&m=popup&l=sv
I live in the beautiful Swedish forest myself and is very sad and frustrated over the situation. Yesterday they killed two of “my” wolves. One was the alfa-female so this year we can not look forward to any new pups.