GOTHENBURG, Sweden—The first licensed wolf hunting in Sweden in 45 years has sparked criticism across the country.
Although wolves are not popular in Sweden, an approval of the Swedish Environment Protection Agency to allow 27 wolves, 10 percent of the total wolf population, to be killed has proved controversial—dominating Swedish newspapers for days.
Wolves, which are listed as critically endangered in Sweden, can be killed to control the wolf population of the Scandinavian country. The licensed hunt comes after a government decision last year to keep the wolf population under 210.
“The road that the government has embarked on is dangerous, uncontrolled, and signals a systematic shift in Swedish nature-conservation tradition,” said the president of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Mikael Karlsson.
Around 12,000 hunters had registered for the hunt, which was planned from Jan. 2 to Feb 15. On the opening day of the hunt, 21 wolves were already shot, with three more on the next day.
Regional offices haven’t been able to determine the numbers of wolves killed yet, and whether hunters have stayed within the quota.
Hunters are allowed to keep the pelt of a killed wolf but are to hand over the rest of the carcass to government inspectors who will send it to a national biomedical research institute. All kills must be reported and inspected by government inspectors.
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation said that there has been insufficient supervision from the government, and the hunt had turned into a witch hunt against wolves.
“Sweden is now leaving its position since decades as an environmental forerunner. The on-going killing of critically endangered wolves risks severely harming the already small and inbred wolf population of Sweden,” said Karlsson.
The Swedish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Association of Predatory Animals have protested against the hunt, saying Sweden doesn’t have a viable strain of wolves.
“If they had waited for two years, it would have been possible to resolve this matter, but this is a political issue. It was promised during the last elections that a wolf hunt would be initiated. Unfortunately this is happening at the sacrifice of the wolves,” said Mr. Arnbom, responsible for the predatory animals in the WWF in Sweden, on Swedish national television.
Although wolves are not popular in Sweden, an approval of the Swedish Environment Protection Agency to allow 27 wolves, 10 percent of the total wolf population, to be killed has proved controversial—dominating Swedish newspapers for days.
Wolves, which are listed as critically endangered in Sweden, can be killed to control the wolf population of the Scandinavian country. The licensed hunt comes after a government decision last year to keep the wolf population under 210.
“The road that the government has embarked on is dangerous, uncontrolled, and signals a systematic shift in Swedish nature-conservation tradition,” said the president of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Mikael Karlsson.
Around 12,000 hunters had registered for the hunt, which was planned from Jan. 2 to Feb 15. On the opening day of the hunt, 21 wolves were already shot, with three more on the next day.
Regional offices haven’t been able to determine the numbers of wolves killed yet, and whether hunters have stayed within the quota.
Hunters are allowed to keep the pelt of a killed wolf but are to hand over the rest of the carcass to government inspectors who will send it to a national biomedical research institute. All kills must be reported and inspected by government inspectors.
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation said that there has been insufficient supervision from the government, and the hunt had turned into a witch hunt against wolves.
“Sweden is now leaving its position since decades as an environmental forerunner. The on-going killing of critically endangered wolves risks severely harming the already small and inbred wolf population of Sweden,” said Karlsson.
The Swedish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Association of Predatory Animals have protested against the hunt, saying Sweden doesn’t have a viable strain of wolves.
“If they had waited for two years, it would have been possible to resolve this matter, but this is a political issue. It was promised during the last elections that a wolf hunt would be initiated. Unfortunately this is happening at the sacrifice of the wolves,” said Mr. Arnbom, responsible for the predatory animals in the WWF in Sweden, on Swedish national television.
