Petition for wolves in Sweden

[mijke]

I did receive a request of Rick from Sweden to add here his article about sign a petition for the wolves in Sweden.
I hope that many people want to sign! (name and city / country are sufficient, email address is not required)

It has happended again, last saturday a wolf was LEGALLY shot in our area. Reason was that in the past 5 months wolves killed 5 loose huntingdogs.

It has happended again, last saturday a wolf was LEGALLY shot in our area. Reason was that in the past 5 months wolves killed 5 loose huntingdogs.

http://bohuslaningen.se/nyheter/uddevalla/1.209261


The area where this happened however is so large that it partly overlaps three wolfterritories. Huntingorganisations demanded the killing of the “dangerous” and unnatural behaving wolf, and the authorities granted.

It is however very likely that there where more than one wolf that tried to protect their territory from rivals as they see it right before mating season and killed the dogs. Natural behaviour this time of the year.

The chance that this 43 kilo female is not the bad wolf in question is very big. No DNA analyses result is known yet.

Hunting with loose, driving huntingdogs, though forbidden in other european countries, is very populair in Sweden and unfortunately measures to keep wolves away from these dogs like collarbells and protectionvests are not compulsory.

Wolves in Sweden are suffering from inbreeding because of the remote location and reindeerfarming in the North prevent most wolves with important genes to wander in from Finland. Because of this problem wolves have small litters and sometimes deformitys.

Total number is 200. The wolf in Europe is a threatened, redlisted species and and is protected under Habitatlaw and Berncovention.

The problem is that allthough the autorities yield enormously to the demands of huntinglobbys the past two years (several law adjustments made it easier to kill wolves in case of conflicts ) these lobbys have now started a petition to allow free hunting of wolves!

A protestpetition as a result has begun to show the government that there are other people that are willing to allow wolves their right of existence in Sweden and that it would be better to avoid conflicts with wolves by using electrical fences around cattle and sheep and collarbells and protectionvests for driving huntingdogs. This as an alterativ to just killing them.

Please sign and spread the petition if you can support this!

http://upprop.nu/0450

Gr Rick

http://wolftracks.web-log.nl/

[Juniorwolf]

Thanks a lot Mikje and Rick for this information and opportunity to do something about it.... I feel sad for the wolves of Sweden, if 40-50 hunters are hunting for only 1 wolf, the wolves have no chance at all

I hope more people will sign this petition...

Sadly greetings Rolf

[Mikael]

It is about 200 wolves but there are only about 132-156 grown up wolves in Sweden ( 2007/2008 )

2004/2005 24 family’s 101-109 grown wolves
2005/2006 27-28 family’s 114-124 grown wolves
2006/2007 28-29 family’s 112-129 grown wolves
2007/2008 33-41 family’s 132-156 grown wolves

In 2008 19 litters was registered and there was about 152 wolf puppy’s,
A average litter in Sweden 2008 was therefore about 8 wolf puppies/litter.

I do not know if that is a small litter, but I do not think so ???

But yes the COI % is very high, and the last 15 years only 2 new wolf did enter Sweden from Finland / Russia

Hunting of wolves is not allowed, but there are some hunting approved by the government if there is a wolf that lives on livestock, the wolf in my area (Roslagen) was approved for hunting after 80 dead sheep’s.

There was 6 hunters that was given a special wolves hunting course, and after some weeks the wolf was shot.

There are also some protecting hunting because of dead hunting dogs, however I think the most killing of wolves is not approved hunting at ALL but illegal myself I do not support any hunting of wolves in Sweden.

The wolves in the Stockholm area have about 5 litter/year in a area of 200km from the capital city, and there are some young males that cross through Stockholm city to. The number of wolves in Sweden is growing fast, about 50% more grown wolves 2008 than it was 3 years earlier in 2005.

The biggest threat fore the Swedish wolf population is Nature and Traffic, and the high COI % of inbreeding, but illegal hunting is also a big threat if more hunters decide to do it…

the thing I have biggest problem whit is that they do not kill the wolves, they put a bullet in the stomach so that the wolves will run and die some where ells, it can take up to fore days before they die.

I have put my name on the list and I hope you will to, to save the Scandinavian Wolves from approved hunting.

http://upprop.nu/0450


Best regards / Mikael