Roughly translated by TWIN Observer
CRIME / TT Police are investigating a suspicious hunting incident in areas around Gnesta. A man on Tuesday shot a wolf is now suspected for serious hunting offenses.
For a time, the police have investigated a number of “hunting-related crimes” in the area of Gnesta, outside Stockholm. The area has a wolf territory, and on Tuesday a man shot the region’s alpha female.
“Our hope was that we would get so far with the investigations that no wolves would have been shot. But now we had to go in and act earlier,” prosecutor Christer B Järlås said.
The man claimed he shot the wolf when it attacked his dog. According to the prosecutor, the provincial government, who investigated the incident, accepted the man’s explanation. The shooter has has yet to receive notifications of serious hunting offenses.
“This fitted in with what we were already investigating. He is being interrogated and we have made a search of his property and even made some seizures,” says Christer B Järlås.
The prosecutor is otherwise secretive about the investigation but do not exclude that more people can be involved.
“We investigate a greater magnitude and it can lead to other persons may be shared suspicion,” says Christer B Järlås.
Related
PREDATOR AND SERIOUS HUNTING VIOLATIONS
For the five large predators counting bears, wolves, lynx, wolverines and golden eagles.
Illegal hunting of large carnivores classed legally as aggravated hunting crimes. Penalty scale runs from imprisonment for six months to imprisonment for four years.
The serious hunting offenses concerned are often investigated by the same police officers who handle environmental crimes. Investigations are led by the special environmental prosecutor.
Hunting means not only the killing but also tracking and pursuing the wildlife in order to kill.
Source: Police