No wolf hunts this winter
State wildlife officials said Monday that no licenses will be issued for a wolf hunt this winter. The wolf population already is so decimated that no hunt can be justified, they say.
Norway’s wolves should be able to roam without fear of getting shot this winter.
Officials at the state Directorate for Wildlife Management said they are only aware of two wolf pairs that can reproduce. That means there is no basis for an authorized hunt.
The decision provides for some breathing room in a long-standing quarrel between Norwegian and Swedish wildlife officials. Both sides had cooperated in building up southern Scandinavia’s once nearly extinct wolf population, members of which often cross back and forth over the border.
While the Swedes continued to protect their wolves, Norwegian authorities started allowing hunts after ranchers complained the wolves were attacking their free-grazing sheep. The Swedes were furious and are firmly opposed to hunts.
Ugly incidents also have arisen in Norway in which ranchers are suspected of laying out poison to intentionally kill wolves.
In other cases, wolves that researchers had marked with transmitters have disappeared. Officials suspect anti-wolf activists have obtained equipment that allowed them to track down the wolves instead, and that the animals were then killed.
Wildlife officials also have proposed using the Glomma River as a boundary for separating the wolves and domestic animals. Wolves would be allowed to roam in the area east of the river, while ranchers could allow their flocks to graze west of the river.
The proposal has received mixed reviews. Wolf activists have reservations, worrying that such artificial borders can hurt other wild species and would be unmanageable.