Sweden has started its 2025 wolf hunt, with an aim to kill 30 wolves between Jan. 2 and Feb. 15. By the end of Jan. 2, hunters had shot 10 wolves (Canis lupus), according to Sweden Herald. Most recent estimates put wolf numbers in Sweden at roughly 375 by late 2023, a decline of nearly 20% from 2022. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) had previously said that about 300 wolves could exist in Sweden for “favourable conservation status.” In October 2024, though, the Swedish government announced that it intended to lower the minimum level further to 170 in the coming years. It issued licenses for 30 individuals to be shot in 2025. An additional 20 wolves can be killed if seen as a threat to life or property, Sweden Herald reported. The government has claimed that wolves are a threat to farmers’ livestock, dogs and people. Some hunters have said that “hunting is absolutely necessary to slow the growth of wolves.” However, wildlife conservation groups and scientists argue that hunting wolves will “dramatically threaten” the already fragile status of the canid in Sweden, which had no breeding wolf population between 1966 and 1983. Moreover, culling doesn’t solve livestock predation issues, they add. Benny Gäfvert, carnivore expert at WWF Sweden, said in a statement that “the EU Commission’s own in-depth analysis failed to find any evidence that culling wolves reduces attacks on livestock. Rather, research has shown that the risk of attacks on livestock increases when wolves are killed so…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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