Government officials in Norway have approved a new wolf hunt in Gudbrandsdalen. Norway's current wolf population is estimated at only 10-15 members. The population is so isolated that these wolves derive from only three individuals.
Strong protest is expected from Sweden, where officials there opposed Norway's last wolf hunt, conducted in the country's southeastern district known as Osterdalen, in February and March of 2001. Although Norway and Sweden have a common wolf population numbering approximately 100 animals, authorities in Stockholm maintain that at least 200 wolves - twice the existing amount - are needed to sustain the species in the two countries. Norway's last wolf hunt, conducted from helicopters, eliminated about 10 per cent of the Scandinavian wolf population.
As with Norway's last wolf hunt, it is expected that international environmental officials will join worldwide wildlife campaigners and rally in protest.
In May of 2001 wildlife officials in Finnmark (in northern Norway) decreed the country's few remaining wolves to be a major threat to that area's widespread reindeer herds. The reindeer are an important income source and part of the local Sami (Lappland) lifestyle.
No re-establishment of wolves is being allowed in Finnmark, where local hunters are permitted to track down any wolf families and kill all existing adults as well as newborn pups. A hunt is triggered at the first sign of breeding.
The new, recently approved wolf hunt in Norway is aimed at a lone wolf, known to be stationary in the Gudbrandsdalen area for over a year. This wolf is being blamed for all sheep deaths occurring within the population of more than 2 million free-ranging, unattended sheep. This wolf is also being held responsible for a number of missing goats. It has been documented in having killed only a few sheep which could have been protected by various measures - including guard dogs and electric fences.
Norway's Alpha Association (known there as Alpha-gruppen), an independent nationwide society founded in 1999 for the protection of the wolf within the Norwegian ecosystem, urges all those concerned about the new wolf hunt to express their thoughts via email. The Office of the Directorate may be addressed at
[email protected] and The Minister of Environment, Mr. Borge Brende, may be contacted at
[email protected]. In statements released by Alpha-gruppen, the association insists that if the currently authorized wolf hunt is not stopped it will result in no less than the total annihilation of the wolf in that country.
http://www.kerwoodwolf.com/NORWAYHUNT.htm
Terrible
