First body of Finland’s official wolf cull as anger grows among activists

Finland has begun a controversial wolf cull that gives hunters the right to kill around one fifth of the endangered animals, in a decision that has angered environmentalists. Authorities hope the trial cull of 46 of Finland’s estimated 250 grey wolves will curb illegal poaching, which some rural landowners have resorted to in recent years after seeing wolves roaming their property, sometimes killing dogs and livestock. “We wish to gain experience (to see) if this could be one solution to the conflict around wolves,” Sauli Harkonen, a director tasked with hunting administration at the Finnish Wildlife Agency, told AFP.

The cull reduces the population but the wolf is a prolific species… Wolves have spread out to new and even somewhat populous areas.

Sauli Harkonen, at the Finnish Wildlife Agency

Quotas have been issued for specific regions, and the month-long cull will be carried out by licensed hunters. Harkonen said the first wolf, a male, was killed in the country’s east on Saturday. The conflict peaked in 2013 when a group of angry locals in the rural western municipality of Perho took the law into their own hands and killed three wolves. Twelve men were prosecuted and eventually found guilty. Poachers throughout the country’s vast and remote forests reduced the total wolf population to between 120 and 135 animals in 2013, but numbers have since rebounded to around 250, similar to 2007 levels.

All protectionists have been shocked by the high quotas… The population should be at least twice as big for it to be genetically healthy.

Mari Nyyssola-Kiisla, head of the wolf action group of the Finnish Nature League

wolf cull