Kennet’s dog was killed: “Unpleasant” • The county board: No cause for concern
On Tuesday, Kennet Östensson, 69, from Sälen, was out moose hunting with his two hunting dogs. After several hours of hunting, the GPS signal of one of the dogs was broken, and she disappeared. Kennet was helped by his daughter Malin to search.
– We began to approach where the signal ended. Then we first saw a large pool of blood and a lot of wolf tracks. Then we went a little further up and saw another pool of blood. 50–70 meters up we found her. She was bitten and killed by the wolf, says Malin Östensson.
Malin and Kennet took the dog down from the mountain and contacted the County Administrative Board, who were able to confirm that a wolf was behind the attack.
Warns ski tourists
Lindvallen’s ski slopes are approximately 1.5 kilometers from the site of the attack. During the fall and winter, wolves have been observed in the area, according to posts in local Facebook groups. Among other things, in a car park outside a retirement home and between Sälensby and Transtrand.
With the Christmas holiday comes the tourists, and Malin wants to raise a warning finger.
– There are a lot of people who should know that the wolf is so close. You have to look after yourself, your animals and children.
Kennet Östensson has not experienced the wolf being seen so close to the settlement before.
– It’s not funny. So close to the tourists then too, they are almost at the slopes. We’ve had wolves above us before, but that was a long time ago. Not this close. It’s not good, he says.
County Administrative Board: No cause for concern
The County Administrative Board has not received any application for protective hunting of the wolf. They have also not received any more reports that people have seen the wolf in the area, but are aware of the posts on social media. That’s according to Erik Dahl Gunnarsson, nature watcher at the County Administrative Board, who was the one who established that Kennet’s dog was killed by a wolf.
He believes that Kennet’s hunting dog was extremely unlucky, because it ran straight into the place where the wolf had been for several days, while it came hunting with moose.
Erik Dahl Gunnarsson does not think that people should be afraid. The area itself is not particularly accessible to those who are in the resort for skiing.
– There is no cause for concern there. The wolf has hardly been observed by humans and it appears to be shy and behave normally. There are no signs of proximity and such, it has stayed, it seems, in the forest, he says.
Skistar, which has facilities in Lindvallen, writes in a comment to TV4 Nyheterna:
“It is of course tragic that the dog was attacked, we feel no concern for our guests. We will not take any measures ourselves, but trust that the County Administrative Board will handle this in the best way.”