Sweden to resume hunting wolves after 45 years
chatnoir
headline:
Sweden to resume hunting wolves after 45 years
A wolf hunt that will decimate Sweden’s lupine population has been
sanctioned for the first time in nearly half a century.
The Swedish parliament has voted to allow 27 of the animals to be
killed with special permits during a limited hunting season in
January, after the authorities decided to limit the country's wolf
population to about 210.
More than 10,000 hunters have already applied to the Environmental
Protection Agency for the scarce permits to hunt the wolves, it
added.
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) said that the wolf
hunt violated European Union legislation on species and habitats.
“This could severely worsen the situation for the small, inbred
Swedish-Norwegian wolf population, and there is also a big risk that
the quota will be exceeded since there is so much interest in the wolf
hunt,” it lamented.
“Instead of launching an illegal hunt that worsens the situation for a
severely threatened species, the government should increase efforts to
prevent the damage the wolves cause to domesticated and farm animals,”
SSNC chairman Mikael Nilsson said.
Parliament decided in October to limit the wolf population to 210
animals for the next five years. This is to be done by issuing hunting
permits in five regions where wolves have reproduced every year for
the past three years. ... (cont)