The Return of the Wolf - Carnivores in Norway
Extirpated in the 1960’s, protected by law in the 1970’s and functionally extinct until the 1980’s, the Eurasian grey wolf returned to Norway in 1997. With differing views on how to manage this fledgling population, the species is still facing an uphill battle.
Guest post by Rob Hanley
The founder population of the current packs descended from a small number of animals from the Finnish-Russian population that made their way into southern Sweden. With a weak gene pool, the Scandinavian wolf population currently requires one immigrant wolf every five years to maintain diversity. Current conflicts with the species in the south, coupled with persecution in the north is preventing this flow of genes.Formally protected in Sweden and descending from approximately 7 specimens, the wolf population has grown exponentially in Scandinavia despite their genetic isolation. This growth, as noted by the Scandinavian Wolf Research Project (SKANDULV), can be attributed to the Swedish management of the species and general public acceptance outside of areas where populations are most dense. The strength of the Swedish wolf population has facilitated its migration into Norway and resulted in the establishment of packs along the border.The wolf’s return to Norway brought with it a resurgence of the millennia-old conflict that humans have had with the species. These include livestock predation, dog attacks, trophy hunting, competition for game and a fear of living in wolf territories alongside more modern thoughts on whether to manage them for eco-tourism or sport. These contrasting views culminated in 2017 with a controversial government proposal to issue hunting licences for 47 wolves out of an estimated population of 80. Following pressure from environmental groups, this number was decreased to 20.
POLITICISING THE WOLF
The politically determined population target for wolves in Norway states that the management of wolves has to be done within the framework of the Nature Biodiversity Act and the Bern Convention. With every wolf in Norway and Sweden accounted for by SKANDULV, the Norwegian national population target for wolves is between four and six litters per year. Litters in border packs are counted as 0.5 litters towards the total population and three of the litters have to be entirely on Norwegian territory. As such, the management of wolves in Norway is heavily reliant on the careful monitoring of its extant population which is subject to a ≥50% mortality rate attributed to poaching.With over 80% of Norwegians accepting of hunting for sport, the country looks to manage their population of wolves to minimise human conflict and maximise the economic gains from their most valuable game species – the moose. Despite being present in only 4-5% of Norway, the wolves in Norway have come into contention with the locals due to their high kill rate when targeting moose. This puts them in direct conflict with landowners who manage land unsuited to agriculture through forestry or lucrative hunts where locals and foreigners are able to bid for hunting rights to shoot a pre-determined quota of moose.
HUMAN-WOLF CONFLICT
The conflict between carnivores and livestock is also relatively high in Norway because of a system based on free-grazing, unguarded sheep in carnivore habitat. This system originates from a time when predators were eradicated in most of the country and it has yet to adapt to their return. As such, wolves are absent in western Norway where the sheep are most heavily grazed, and those found are quickly killed to ensure they do not become ‘problem animals’.In Norway, there is a legal requirement that all losses to large carnivores should be fully compensated and, in 2016, an estimated 104,500 sheep disappeared during grazing season with approximately 17,550 of these noted as killed by carnivores (bears, lynx, wolverines, wolves and golden eagles). Of this, approximately 1,600 sheep were compensated as lost to wolf predation – just over 1.5% of the total estimated loss of sheep – a figure that can be attributed to the smaller population of wolves and those that stray into designated grazing territory. Interestingly, there have been fewer livestock losses as wolf populations have increased.In the 1970’s, there was an explosion in moose numbers which can be attributed to a small predator population and a change in forestry management which permitted clear cutting, thus providing ample food for the species.
THE IMPACT OF MOOSE POPULATIONS
Scandinavian wolves kill more moose annually than North American grey wolves, taking an average of 120 moose per year per pack. Despite this kill rate, it has been shown through studies that a decrease in wolf population has no impact on the annual harvest of 30,000 to 40,000 moose shot annually across Norway. The root of the conflict with wolf predation stems from its impact on the landowners hunting rights, as the presence of a wolf pack potentially reduces the number of moose that can be hunted in an area and the potential profits reaped. This is particularly poignant as there is no compensation by the Norwegian states for moose killed and the subsequent loss of hunting profits.With humans responsible for 25-30% of moose killed annually, wolves make up a relatively paltry 10% indicating that there is the potential for humans and wolves to live side by side with minimal conflict. The packs in Norway tend to focus on the moose considered ‘undesirable’ to a hunter – namely older females and calves, the latter of which makes up a sizeable portion of their diets. With an average pack size of 6, their kill rate decreases as their numbers increase. Conversely, higher kill rates amongst wolves have been attributed to wandering lone pairs or smaller packs which, theoretically, should make these more undesirable to have on your land than a larger pack.
PERSECUTING AND STIGMATISING THE WOLF
For various historical reasons, including persecution, the lack of natural predators in Norway has meant that humans have felt encouraged to interfere. Retaining sufficiently large packs in the ‘Wolf Management Zone’ that covers four counties in eastern Norway could ensure a lower rate of moose predation than would occur from the presence of inevitable wanderers crossing the border.The ongoing stigma against wolves in Norway, coupled with the purported cultural and economic value of hunting moose indicates that this conflict will not be coming to an end anytime soon. In the meantime, the landowners responsible for monitoring wolf numbers and the relevant authorities responsible for issuing hunting quotas should seek to adhere to the Bern Convention: to aim to conserve wild flora and fauna in their natural habitats. In a country where prey is so abundant for both humans and wolves, genetic diversity should be encouraged by Norway and Sweden to ensure a healthy predator population that is able to cope with the pressures of poaching and culling. Ultimately it seems that, despite recolonising former territories, the wolves of Scandinavia will be subject to these management techniques until alternate solutions are adopted for this important keystone species. ***Rob had the opportunity to visit Norway through the Erasmus + programme nature exchange which was facilitated by archnetwork.
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