Effects of the regulated hunt on the Swedish wolf (Canis Lupus) population

In October 2009, a new decision was made concerning the administration of predators which resulted in a new wolf policy in Sweden. This meant that the wolf population now should be limited to 210 individuals by harvest. The new policy also recognized that the public acceptance of this species must increase and the genetic status improved. In the 17th of December a decision was taken by the Swedish parliament that it should become legal to hunt wolves in Sweden. The wolf hunt resulted in debate on a large scale amongst people, some thought of it as a good decision while others thought it was wrong. Today the wolf is Endangered (EN) in Sweden. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the significance of wolf harvest to the wolf population development. Despite that the decision of hunting wolves was made in a hurry it has worked well, only one animal in addition to the allowed number of wolves was killed. This shows that the hunters take their task serious. When the total number of wolves allowed in the hunt was decided, scientists provided the decision makers with an interval of the number of animals to harvest to reach the management objective; the result was an interval between 23 and 41 animals. In the end the decision comprised 27 animals, which meant that the most important issue of the hunt was that the population did not fall below 210 individuals. The strategy of the hunt involved all individuals independent of sex or age in the areas permitted to hunt. The result of this strategy became as the scientists expected, and by this means the hunt was successful. Apart from the hunting also new wolves will be transported in to Sweden; this would probably have met great resistance without harvest. The Scandinavian wolf population can be thought of as isolated due to the low frequency of genetic exchange with the Finnish/Russian population. The result of this is inbreeding, with wolves on average more closely related than siblings. The occurrence of wolves in Sweden involves interests in both nature conservation and society. These interests must function together if the wolves’ long-term occurrence in Sweden is to be guaranteed. According to an investigation performed by the Gothenburg University of Sweden, it seems that the hunt really has increased the acceptance of the administration of predators, including the wolves. It is always more difficult for a small population too survive. Hence it would be adverse for the population if too many individuals were killed. The population of today is small and would probably not survive long-term in the country with today’s situation. Despite the fact that the hunt limit further population growth and therefore can be seen as negative, it also brings positive consequences, for example the increasing acceptance of wolves