Sweden doles out wolf hunting licenses to manage once-endangered population

Sweden’s once-endangered wolf population is making a comeback, stirring debate over how best to manage the species. While conservationists are celebrating the population’s growth, the Swedish government is calling for it to be halved.

On Thursday, Jan. 2, the government issued a license to hunt, allowing hunters to kill up to 30 wolves across five territories to reduce the population, which currently stands at 375.

This move aligns with the European Commission’s goal to loosen protections for wolves across the continent.

Over recent decades, the growing wolf population has raised concerns among farmers, who say their livestock are increasingly at risk from the predators.

In just a few months, wolves in Sweden will transition from being “strictly protected” to a “protected” species, thus allowing lawmakers to raise the annual quota for how many wolves can be hunted.

Officials are proposing a new minimum population of 170 wolves, marking a reduction from the current 300, to maintain what they describe as a more sustainable population.

Environmentalists, however, argued that current laws prevent the population of protected species from falling below a certain threshold. They also suggest that farmers could use electric fencing or other deterrents instead of resorting to widespread wolf culling.

One environmental group said wolves are “the latest political pawn” and warned that downgrading protections “will not solve the challenges of coexistence, nor help farmers.”

Meanwhile, Sweden’s wolf population fell by 20% between 2022 and 2023, a drop experts attribute to increased hunting pressure.