The wolf was shot a couple of weeks ago during a protective hunt in Åre municipality. The hunt had been decided after a wolf killed reindeer in an area of the municipality, reports Östersunds-Posten.
All wolves that are shot during protection or license hunting are sent to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (SVA) for examination and sampling. When the wolf from Åre came to SVA, it weighed 56 kilos.
“However, after coordination with the county board’s staff, it emerged that the weight immediately after killing was accurately determined with three different scales, all of which showed 57.5 kilos,” says Emma Höök, agronomist and predator biologist at SVA, according to the authority’s website.
Heaviest weighed since 1977
According to Höök, the difference in weight must have been due to a lot of blood flowing out of the body after the first weighing.
“It is very large and powerful and the heaviest wolf with a recorded weight since 1977. It had the largest measured chest girth, but it was not the largest in all the different body measurements recorded,” says Emma Höök.
Struck reindeer
Pathologist Gustav Avehred performed an autopsy on the wolf at SVA and says that there was nothing else remarkable about the animal apart from its size.
“This wolf had killed reindeer, which was the reason for the decision on protective hunting. Barely half a kilo of reindeer remains were seen in the stomach, which was the wolf’s last meal,” says Avehred.
When wolves are killed during protective hunting or felled during licensed hunting, the animal belongs to the hunting right holder or the land owner. As a condition for the hunt, however, it is normally stated that the body, excluding the skin, must be sent to SVA for examination. If the owner wishes, SVA will send the skull back after the examination.