HS Environment “They should all be killed and taken to the air” – The wolf poaching is rampant in many places, tacitly accepted by the community

Toxic baits in the terrain or in meat intended for animals, old gunshot wounds and encapsulated shots in the body, mysteriously disappearing beasts …

Damage and illegal killing of wolves is still a reality in Finland, although attempts have been made to eradicate poaching for years.

There is little direct evidence of poaching, but in addition to hidden or submerged carcasses, for example, traps at the bottom of the ditch and lures in the forest have been found in the terrain.

The wolf evokes strong and extreme emotions. The wolf is hated and feared and passionately protected.

In the north, anti-predation is based on reindeer husbandry and the defense of the industry. Conflicts are exacerbated in many localities by concerns about the loss of a hunting dog. The closer the wolf walks to settlements and new habitats, the more fears increase because it is not used to predators.

Frustration with the beast’s presence often results in the fate of the wolf. It may be that the beast that killed the dogs or cattle just disappears and is no longer talked about.

Poaching is still tacitly accepted in many places.

Susia former researcher at the Natural Resources Center (Luke) since 1998 Seppo Ronkainen said in an interview with HS that wolves, even entire herds, mysteriously disappear.

Wolves are also harassed. Bullet holes and bullets have been found in live wolves during the brooding. The female wolf leader had even lost her other eye after a rifle bullet pierced its skull.

Read more: The wolf ran ahead, the man skied after him, and when the seven-hour raw race was over, one of them was dead.

Old gunshot wounds can also be found in dead wolves, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s death reports.

Summary causes of death of wolves between 2001 and 2014 reports that encapsulated shots and bullet remnants were found in seven of the 81 wolves surveyed. In four cases, the shooting had severely damaged the animal and hampered its survival.

The most common cause of wolf death was a car accident in which 31 wolves died. Unauthorized killings were detected in the studies 14.

HS reviewed the death report of nearly a hundred wolves from 2015–2021. Old gunshot wounds and wounds as well as bullets or bullet marks were found in 16 wolves.

The most common cause of death during this period was shooting with police permission and the second most common traffic accident. In addition, wolves had died as a result of unauthorized killings and suspected hunting crimes.

There have been more wolves in Finland for more than a decade.

According to Luke’s latest estimate, there were probably 22 pairs of wolves and 35 family flocks in Finland in March 2021. There were an estimated 271–321 wolves before the summer litters.

Strong areas in the wolf population include southwestern Finland and Satakunta, as well as southern and northern Ostrobothnia.

Read more: The Finnish wolf population grew to record levels: there were about 30 percent more wolves in the spring than a year ago

Area of ​​condensation is, for example, the Siikajoki Valley in Northern Ostrobothnia, formed by the municipalities of Pyhännä, Siikajoki and Siikalatva.

Over the past couple of years, as many as 6–7 herds or wolves have formed in the area, possibly even more with last summer’s puppies.

The wolf is a new resident in the area, which has increased fears and also irritability. The wolf conflict is strong, for example, in Rantsila, Siikalatva, where wolves have killed hunting dogs and dozens of local ranchers.

The deportations have not been effective and killing permits for wolves are required in the area. The situation is inflamed.

“Wolf sightings and injuries have increased dramatically recently. The deportations have not been of any use, ”says the chairman of the Siikajoki Valley Game Management Association Antero Niva.

He has no sympathy for wolves. “Final deportation would be the solution,” Niva says.

“Not everyone should be killed, but wolves should not interfere with local settlements and people’s daily lives. Now they make everyday life more difficult. Joggers have disappeared from the roadsides and schoolchildren are being stopped. Berries are not afraid of the forest except with a gun. ”

Rantsilan on the village road with their hounds in the evening outdoor Juha Kumpumäki is angry when dogs can no longer be let go. He thinks the wolf is a pest that is of no use to humans.

“Susia is everywhere, moving very close to the settlement. They should all be killed and moved to the upper air, ”says Kumpumäki.

The game management association Niva is not as steep. According to him, the position of the rural population is that there should be a certain limited number of wolves but they should not be to the detriment of the local population and residents.

According to Niva, no cases of poaching in the area have come to light. However, he understands people’s frustration and even anger.

“If a wolf kills domestic animals and poses a concrete threat to the lives of humans and domestic animals, I fully understand if someone takes the law into their own hands in that situation. However, I by no means accept that the law will be taken into their own hands. ”

Wolf is a strongly political animal, reflecting both the confrontation between rural and urban areas and the remote European Union.

The wolf is a species that is protected and strictly protected by an EU directive, the favorable level of protection of which must not be compromised.

The killing of an animal classified as very endangered is possible with an exemption based on damage, unless another satisfactory solution can be demonstrated.

In Finland wolf stock hunting will also begin in early 2022.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has confirmed this regulation, in which the hunting quota is defined as 20 wolves outside the reindeer husbandry area.

The aim of the future wolf hunt is to regulate the growth of the wolf population and to reduce the related social conflicts and promote the social acceptability of the wolf. The aim is also to reduce illegal killings.

The start of stock-based hunting has aroused both satisfaction and strong opposition.

Environmental organizations are appalled that the ministry decided to wolf hunt before Luke had completed the definition of a favorable conservation level, the target value for how many wolves there were enough.

Read more: The wolf hunt is set to start in the winter, although a programming error messed up the calculation – Conservationists furious: “Incomprehensible solo”

Head of the Nature Association Sami Säynevirta considers the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and, above all, the Minister leading it to be a stock-based hunter; Jari Lepän as a (central) political play to nurture the future success of the center.

“In this tug of war, the animal is forgotten. The wolf will suffer when ways are devised to circumvent EU legislation so that wolves can be killed, ”says Säynevirta.

“The wolf is in a position to pour things that have nothing to do with the wolf.”

During Christmas, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, WWF and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation filed a complaint with the EU Commission about the start of wolf hunting.

Säynevirta reminds us that the wolf is not only endangered and protected, but also has an absolute value as a wild animal and its own role in nature.

“The wolf is as valuable in itself as any other species. The wolf also plays a significant role in the Finnish ecosystem, as it keeps other species in check and healthy as top predators. ”

Sorry Säynevirta maintains that while Finland is focusing on increasing dumping permits, real problems are being forgotten, such as poaching.

“There has been poaching in Finland for an extraordinarily long time, and the culture of silence still protects it. Cases of poisoning animals, for example, occur at regular intervals, ”says Säynevirta.

“They invariably cause painful death to the animal, and they must be condemned.”

The latest the suspicion of poaching ended in the North Karelia District Court at the end of November. A man from Lieksa was charged with a felony.

The man is suspected of killing, injuring and expelling more than ten wolves with toxic baits in 2017–2020. According to the accusation, the man has mixed cyanide and strychnine with minced meat, among other things, and taken dumplings made from the mixture into the terrain.

The suspected hunting crime is based on retaliation for wolves that killed two dogs from the man.

Preliminary investigation into the case Kainuu Border Guard In addition to wolves, the use of poison baits has posed a serious and long-term risk to other forest animals and, inter alia, to human hunting dogs.

Read more: A herd of wolves or always traces of the same wolf? Fecal areas are now collecting feces that reveal the DNA of each wolf

Read more: The wolves have moved to the neighborhood