Roughly translated by TWIN Observer
STOCKHOLM / TT
The Stockholm Administrative Court is annuling the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision on wolf hunting. There are other solutions to reduce inbreeding as considered by the court. The EPA decided in January on 16 wolves in eight territories would get shot.
The court thinks that there are satisfactory solutions other than “selective and targeted hunting for wolves to achieve the purpose of reducing inbreeding in the Swedish wolf population.”
Before the hunt was halted pending the administrative law court’s decision, three wolves were shot.
Mikael Karlsson, President of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, which together with the Swedish Society for Predators and WWF appealed, saying that the ruling is a victory for the wolves.
“It is obviously very positive, and again a sign that the wolf management does not meet statutory requirements which Sweden pledged to follow,” he says.
TT: Are you surprised?
“No, it sounds bold, maybe, but we have always maintained and supported the European Commission in its criticism of Sweden when it comes to it that licensed hunting is incompatible with the law.
In its judgment, the Court finds that there are other ways to reduce inbreeding in the Swedish wolf other than hunting. Among other things, wolves can be moved here from the Russian-Finnish population and vice versa and using zoo puppies can be discontinued.
The Administrative Court does not think that the decision that hunting is done in a “limited scope”, which is a requirement under the Species and Habitats Directive.
The court’s opinion that 16 killed wolves, nearly seven percent of the Swedish wolf population, is too many.
Torbjörn Lövbom, chairman of the Swedish Hunters Association predator advisor, thinks that the issue needs to be examined further.
“For us to be able to manage the predator strains we have so some form of management of hunting necessary,” he says.
He thinks that the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision on hunting was a way to combine the reduction of the wolf population and the improvement of genetics in order to achieve Sweden’s international commitments.