Sweden evades EU rules to allow wolf hunt
Hunters will get licenses to shoot wolves next year, despite a court ruling against last year’s hunt.
This is raising eyebrows in the EU Commission, says environmental law professor Jan Darpö.
“It’s sending shockwaves through Europe, that a member state that is usually top of the class is acting like this,” says Jan Darpö at Uppsala University to Swedish local radio P4 Gävleborg.
A total of 44 wolves can be killed this winter, and the hunting permission has been granted in a way that makes it impossible for the court to call a halt.
Last hunt stopped when only three wolves had been shot, due to a legal appeal by environmental groups.
The EU Commission is already pursuing two wolf hunt cases against Sweden, for allegedly breaking rules on protecting wild creatures’ habitats. Professor Darpö says Sweden may face an EU lawsuit if the Commission is not happy in the long run.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Fighting to protect bird habitat in North America’s boreal forest (SLIDESHOW), Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Rare white elk judged fair game in Finland, protected in Sweden, Yle News
Iceland: Endangered whale meat shipped from Iceland via Halifax, The Canadian Press
Norway: Rapid growth in Svalbard walrus population, Barents Observer
Sweden: Sweden’s mountain hares changing fur color too early, Radio Sweden
United States: Red foxes conquering Alaska’s North Slope: study, Alaska Dispatch
