• Sweden edition

Agency permits sheep-killing wolf to be shot

Published: 13 Jun 09 09:54 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20050/20090613/

A wolf which attacked and killed or injured more than 40 sheep in eastern Sweden has been shot.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) granted permission for the wolf to be hunted and killed. It was shot on Thursday evening after having been observed on a riverbank.

“It was good that the hunt could be resolved so quickly,” said Greger Nordlöf, environmental director for the Södermanland county administrative board.

On Friday, the wolf was transported to National Veterinary Institute for Autopsy, where it will be determined if it was the same predator behind the attacks on the livestock.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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12:24 June 13, 2009 by jimmyjames
Let us examine the situation : First humans breed like a virus 2.) Within a short time they come to infect almost all the natural habitat(s) 3.) Their actions in turn severly depleat all creatures 4.) When this Wolf trys to feed itself as Nature intended it is hunted down and killed 5.) The only real danger to Nature and all the creatures therein is man. Man is the rabid abomination. 6.) There is no doubt that Nature will have a day of reckoning.......soon.
13:29 June 13, 2009 by Steggles
What happens if the autopsy proves the animal was innocent?

Please keep me posted!
13:32 June 13, 2009 by Staffs
Jimmy,

Are you saying that humans shouldn't defend their food as nature intended?

It's called Darwinism, you'd better learn to accept and prepare for it, because in this respect I do agree with you, very tough and savage times are ahead, let's see how civilised we humans are when the food and oil run out.
14:08 June 13, 2009 by ronneby
Why did they decide to kill? Instead, they can sedate it and locate a place deep in the jungle away from the farm where there can me more wolves so that it can begin a new life.
01:25 June 14, 2009 by Coalbanks
People attack, kill & eat sheep, right? Sooooo....
14:43 June 14, 2009 by karex
The article says nothing about the gender of the animal. I agree with ronneby: it shold have been sedated, and instead a trcking device attached to it. That way it would have been possible to determine the guilt BEFORE taking its life.

Another point to take into consideration is that if it was a female,tracking her may have helped to locate her den and rescue the cubs. Would they be old enough to fend for themselves at this time of year? I don't know enough about wolves.

In any case, more than one possible innocent may have fallen victim here.
15:22 June 14, 2009 by Miss Kitten
The article doesn't reveal much, does it?

There was an interesting documentary on SVT2 not too long ago about the wolf situation here in Sweden. According to information on the program, the decision to destroy a wolf is not taken lightly and done only when they've exhausted all options. They don't destroy female wolves with cubs. They probably tried relocating the wolf, but it found its way back to this ready source of food.

As heartless as this may sound, this particular wolf had become a dangerous nuisance and had to be destroyed. Consider the following: what if it wasn't a bunch of sheep that were killed by the wolf? How about if it was your pet dog or cat? Would you still feel sympathy for the wolf then?
16:36 June 14, 2009 by jack sprat
Most likely give it a Royal pardon and State funeral.

To be serious, from what little is reported it is quite likely that this was a rogue wolf.

A one with blood lust that will kill in big numbers,simply for killings sake,as against one that occasionally picks of weakly,stray and unprotected livestock in order to just keep itself alive.

In such a case their would be little chance of successful rehabilitation in a remote forest.

It would probably eventually have travelled a long distance in order to repeat the performance.

From what little we know it is likely that there was no alternative course of action other than to swiftly dispatch it.

Lets just hope they shot the right one.
18:03 June 14, 2009 by Bender B Rodriquez
Lol, if you want to put it in the jungle you have to go very far away...
18:55 June 14, 2009 by CTIDinÅrsta
There's a problem with inbreeding in the Swedish wolf population. It would have been better to try and test the DNA of the wolf first, to see where it came from (Finland, Russia, Sweden etc) and then decide whether to shoot it or to put in more resources and relocate it nearer an established pack.

I remember a few years ago waking up to read in DN that a wolf had roamed through Stockholm during the night and pretty much gone past my appartment block in Solna. That was pretty cool.
22:35 June 14, 2009 by spy
Poor woolfy.
22:58 June 14, 2009 by Coalbanks
Rogue wolf? It was just doing the natural wolf-thing. Wolves, even well-brought up Swedish wolves are predators & will kill livestock to which they do not have legal ownership and in a manner not approved by the Swedish Soviety for the Protection of Animals...;)
23:54 June 14, 2009 by jack sprat
I shall try to spell it out for you again.

There are those creatures in the animal World which are content only to kill or take what they need to survive, however there are others which will go on a mass killing spree just for the hell of it, leaving behind a trail of mutilated bodies which they have not attempted to eat or use in any way.
00:31 June 15, 2009 by Coalbanks
sounds like human activity to me , jack sprat. wolves & coyotes & dogs behave the same way here esp around sheep but I blame that on the paniced behaviour of sheep as much as anything else , spook them & they run everywhere even into the jaws of the predator - quite literally - or stand with their heads in a shrub!
00:39 June 15, 2009 by mobings
but what about those innocent HUMANS who are being killed without any reason... still the world is silent but laments the death of the wolf .
00:58 June 15, 2009 by jack sprat
""or stand with their heads in a shrub""

Just hope theres not too many Taffies in green wellies in your neck of the woods.

They'll probably think the new leisure centre has opened.
15:13 June 15, 2009 by Ken114
This is a urban vs. rural issue. To avoid conflict with people wolves require a wildness not a farming area like Södermanland. It is silliness to think that people living in the area will tolerate a wolf attacking their livestock, pets, and sooner or latter people. Either the state takes care of the problem or the people themseves will take matters into their own hands.

Already a estimated 20% of radio tagged wolves are killed illegally every year.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...ves-sweden.html
04:45 June 16, 2009 by wolfen
Sodermanland is where my anscestors are from.Wolves have a very special meaning to me.It runs in our blood.I have 4 full blooded german shepards,and we are a happy and strong pack.Contrary to popular belief,german sheppards are not police dogs,but are ranch and farm dogs,as the name sheppard implies,and working dogs that protect the flock from predators,like wolves,as well as herding the flock.If the german sheppard is smart and strong enough to serve as a war dog in the most powerful armies in the world,I'm sure that a pair of them can resist any attack on a ranchers herd.Man is quick to kill what he fears,but often slow to find simple solutions.
09:00 June 16, 2009 by jack sprat
There are breeds of dogs which have been bred specifically for thousands of years to guard livestock,especially sheep.

The Anatolian from Turkey and the Kuvasz Hungarian are two of the more popular ones.

They are normally raised amongst the livestock and are accepted as part of the herd or flock.

The ones I have seen were out amongst the flocks through the nights and rested up near the farmsteads through the day.

They are very impressive animals and generally good natured with ppl.

Some farmers I stayed with in the States were more than happy with the way their flocks were protected from prairie wolves.

I dont know if they have been tried or used in Sweden but its possible that they could be the perfect answer to the whole problem.
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