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will the wolf survive ?

12 000 hunters set to the woods of Sweden to hunt down 27 wolves. They shot 25 of them in two days. For some reason I like wolves and hearing about this was kind of disturbing. Perhaps I should keep my mouth shut since I live in the city - wolves are said to be dangerous. Well I am not an expert - my main source of knowledge about wolves is "Silver Chief - dog of the North" by Jack O'Brien and I am not even sure if it was about a dog or a wolf.
 The hunt could in fact be a part of a master plan, that some say will benefit the population of wolves. There is a project called Skandulv ( a cooperation between researchers and scientists from Norway, Sweden and Finland ).

On their website you will learn: "Wolves have long been regarded with a negative attitude in the Nordic countries, and it took time for the species to be perceived in the context of modern conservation biology. When the wolf was finally protected in Sweden in 1966 and Norway in 1972, it was too late. The last wolves disappeared at about the same time."

Against all odds the wolves returned in the late 1970's entering from the north and by the winter of 2006-2007 a total of 136-169 wolves were estimated on the Scandinavian Peninsula.This could be compared to around 1 500 - 2 000 in for example Spain. So it is a quite small population that now has been decimated. According to experienced hunters many of the wolves were badly shot.

Project Skandulv

I think I will have to calm down from this story and listen to "Howling Wolf" or "Los Lobos".

"Through the chill of winter
Running across the frozen lake
Hunters are out on his trail
All odds are against him"

Mr Urbano (Ulf,Wolf) moaning at midnight
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Comments

mia said…
It's upsetting indeed! Living in the city doesn't keep me from having an opinion about it although I know the people on the countryside claim we never have to suffer from the concequences.. That argument doesn't bite on me.. humans are already top of the game and we have to learn to accept and keep other species alive even if we don't benefit from it.. controlling nature is not necessarily a good thing.. I feel sad that the we cant share this huge country with some hundred wolves.. all the millions of us making a lot more harm than wolves to mother nature and ourselves..
02:20
Anonymous said…
Shame on Sweden!
08:26
Jen said…
Wolves are my favourite animal, I love them. It saddens me to hear stories like this, although I know it's been going on for a long time. Wolves are not nearly as dangerous as some other animals out there, I mean really how often do you hear about a wolf attacking a person? I hope someday people will wake up and realize this.
16:19
br said…
human encroachment...loss of habitat that allowed animals to do their usual migrations in search of food forces animals into areas of human habitation...not to mention climate change that affects all species.
18:16
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