The government once again has the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency investigate how many wolves there should be in Sweden, reports SVT News.
Sätherberg does not want to say exactly which level is right, but she emphasizes that Sweden must continue to live up to the EU’s species and habitat directive on protecting endangered species.
– We see that the wolf population is increasing every year and we want to see if we can reach the goals of the Riksdag with this. Now we can see that the level of conflict has increased and acceptance has decreased, she tells SVT.
The Riksdag decided in 2013 that Sweden must have at least 170–270 wolves to meet the EU directive’s requirements for favorable conservation status.
Last week, a majority in the Riksdag voted through an announcement to the government. There, the government is urged to keep the reference value between just 170 and 270 wolves, with the aim set on the lower range of 170 individuals.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has already investigated the question of how many wolves there should be and has then set a minimum level of 300 wolves for the tribe to be considered viable and not inbred. Then it is required that new blood comes in every five years.
But the government is aiming for lower levels, and wants to see if a move of immigrant wolves can improve genetics.
Benny Gäfwert, a predator expert at the WWF, is critical of the level of 170 individuals. It is not based on any scientific facts, he tells SVT.
According to Gäfwert, such a small number would be far below what WWF considers necessary for the wolf population to be viable.