Anti-hunting activists had planned everything. During the fall, they had scouted locations, in anticipation of the huge hunt, launched on January 2 in Sweden, aimed at killing 75 wolves. That day, about 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 band AC/DC. But if the din succeeded in keeping away the animals 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 still animals to be slaughtered – is the biggest ever organized in Sweden, since the disappearance of the wolf in the 1960s. controversy, it is because the predator has the status of a species “highly endangered” in Sweden and that it is “strictly protected” by the Bern Convention, ratified by Stockholm in 1983. In addition, the European “Habitats” directive prohibits the capture or deliberate killing, unless there is an exemption.
Since the arrival of three wolves, from Finland and Russia, and the birth of a first litter in 1983, their number has continued to increase, reaching 460 animals, at the last census, carried out in winter 2021. -2022. A figure considered far too high by the associations of hunters and breeders, who believe that the slaughter of 75 wolves is not enough.
Breeders “increasingly irritated”
Their presence in the Swedish countryside represents “a threat to hunting with hounds”affirms Mikael Samuelsson, vice-president of the Swedish Association of hunters, who recalls that this practice was inscribed on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020. However, he affirms, “it is very difficult or even impossible to hunt with dogs, when you have wolves nearby, because they are likely to be attacked”. While he does not wish them to disappear, Mr Samuelsson argues that he “should not be more than 150 wolves at most in Sweden”.
A specialist in hunting and game with the Swedish Farmers’ Federation (LRF) LRF, Anders Wetterin does not want to give precise figures, but he recalls that the “reference value”, fixed by the Public Agency for the Protection of environment and communicated to Brussels, is a minimum of 300 animals, to ensure the predator’s long-term survival. “Killing down seventy-five will not be enough to limit the increase”observes Mr. Wetterin, who ensures that breeders are “increasingly irritated”.
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