The largest wolf pack in modern history underway in Sweden
Wildlife conservationists in Sweden and beyond decried the start on Monday of what is being called the biggest wolf drive in modern times, arguing that the killing of almost a fifth of the country’s critically endangered lupine population could have serious consequences for biodiversity.
Swedish public TV company SVTreports hunters in the five Swedish counties with the most wolves – Gävleborg, Dalarna, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland – will have to kill a total of 75 wolves out of a national population of 460 animals.
“The presence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems.”
Last winter, Sweden authorized the killing of 27 wolves, while hunters in neighboring Norway were authorized to kill 51 wolves – about 60% of the lupine population – and Finland authorized the slaughter of 27 wolves.
While Gunnar Glöersen, the head of predators at the Swedish Hunters’ Association, says that “hunting is absolutely necessary to slow the spread of wolves”, Daniel Ekblom of Sweden’s Nature Conservation Association called the killing “tragic”.
“It could have consequences for a long time to come,” Ekblom said SVT.
Other opponents of the culling noted Sweden’s relatively low wolf population. Italy, for example, is only about half the size of Sweden but has around 3,000 wolves, which is about it strictly protected regulation.
“Wolves as top predators in the food chain are a prerequisite for biological diversity,” says Marie Stegard, president of the anti-hunting group Jaktkritikerna. told The Guardianwarns that killing so much of “the population through hunting has negative consequences for animals and nature.”
“It’s catastrophic for the whole ecosystem,” she said. “The presence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems.”
Stegard added:
It is clear that there is strong political pressure for license hunting of wolves, and also lynx and bear.
There is a large majority of Swedes who like wolves, even where they live. The reason for these hunts, in our opinion, is simply that there is a demand for shooting wolves among hunters. The hunting organizations have enormous power in Sweden. It is a fact that Sweden’s parliament has a hunting club open to members from all parties, with a shooting range during the parliament. This sounds like a joke but it’s completely true.
It is also Sweden’s Riksdag lobbying The European Union removes wolves and bears from its list of species in need of protection.
Hanna Dittrich-Söderman, who heads the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s wolf program, says the lupine predators have a special place in national folklore, evoking primal fears and irrational hatred.
“There is no other animal that is so easy to both demonize and glorify as the wolf – an imagined fear or hatred has been attached to it,” Dittrich-Söderman toldThe local. “We’ve almost made it a symbol of our terrible nature as a whole, it has almost mythical qualities.”