Until February 15, 75 predators should be slaughtered. A response to the threat represented by the animal, believe the Swedish hunters and breeders. An attack on the viability of this “very threatened” species are worried, on the other hand, several researchers.
by Anne-Françoise Hiver (Malmö (Sweden), regional correspondent)
Anti -chase activists had planned everything. During the fall, they had scrapped, in anticipation of the huge hunt, launched on January 2 in Sweden, aimed at killing 75 wolves. That day, around thirty of them found themselves in the county of Värmland, on the border with Norway. Masked, they came with speakers. The hunters recognized the melodies of the Hard Rock AC/DC group. But if the din has managed to keep the animals away nearby, it did not prevent the slaughter of a first wolf, a little before noon, 120 km away.
Very controversial, this hunt – which should continue until February 15, provided that there are animals to be killed – is the largest ever organized in Sweden, since the disappearance of the wolf in the 1960s. If It is also controversial, it is because the predator has the status of “very threatened” species in Sweden and that he is “strictly protected” by the Bern Convention, ratified by Stockholm in 1983. In addition, the directive European “Habitats” prohibits its deliberate capture or killing, unless a derogation.
Since the arrival of three wolves, coming from Finland and Russia, and the birth of a first range in 1983, their number has continued to increase, to reach 460 animals, to the last census, made L ‘Winter 2021-2022. A figure deemed far too high by associations of hunters and breeders, who believe that the slaughter of 75 wolves is not enough.
breeders “more and more irritated”
Their presence in Swedish campaigns represents “a threat to hunting for a hunt,” says Mikael Samuelsson, vice-president of the Swedish association of hunters, who recalls that this practice has been inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage In 2020. However, he said, “it is very difficult or even impossible to hunt with dogs, when you have wolves nearby, because they risk being attacked”. If he does not wish their disappearance, Mr. Samuelsson argues that “there should not be more than 150 wolves at most in Sweden”.
Specialist in hunting and game with the Swedish Federation of Farmers (LRF) LRF, Anders Wetterin does not want to give specific figures, but he recalls that the “reference value”, fixed by the public agency of Environmental protection and communicated in Brussels, is at least 300 animals, to ensure long -term survival of the predator. “Bringing down seventies will therefore not be enough to limit the increase,” notes Mr. Wetterin, who ensures that breeders are “more and more irritated”.
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