County vet seeks new wolf hunt
The county veterinarian in Rogaland, western Norway, wants state authorization to hunt down two wolves believed to be wandering in the Agder area. He says he’s trying to avert a livestock tragedy this summer.
Kjetil Gabriel Espeland told wire service NTB Tuesday that he “dreads what might happen when sheep are set free for summer grazing,” with two wolves in the area.
Espeland claimed one of the wolves, based near Lillesand on Norway’s southern coast, “is quite aggressive.” It recently was spotted devouring a moose, and wasn’t scared off by people who encountered it from just 60 meters away.
He said the Lillesand wolf “has killed several animals and roamed right up to barn doors” in the area.
Espeland has asked the state conservation agency (Direktoratet for naturforvaltning) for permission to shoot both the Lillesand wolf and another based in Lyngdal. He hopes for a quick decision.
“A fourth of all the sheep in Norway graze in this area,” Espeland said. “I fear what will happen if the wolves aren’t removed.”
Ranchers have an estimated 550,000 sheep in Rogaland, West- and East-Agder, with most of them released for free-range grazing in the Setesdal-Vestheiene areas every summer.