The license hunt on wolves here in Sweden started last Monday, January 2. First, the authorities decided that they should kill 24 wolves in the entire country, but on January 7 they decided that it would be nice to kill one more wolf, so they did. So far, they have killed 24 wolves, and now all the hunters are chasing one wolf in Dalarna. They shot at this poor wolf on Sunday, but they couldn’t find it although they searched for it. So, then they assumed it wasn’t hit by the bullets that were fired, so they will continue to hunt that poor wolf until they kill it.

Without snow, hunters can’t find wolves

And when they kill the wolves they first follow their tracks in the snow, and they are allowed to search for wolf tracks with vehicles. Then they surround the wolves and place hunters around that area while other hunters walk or go by ski in the wolf tracks in order to make them move so they walk towards the hunters. The hunters are dressed in camouflage clothes. And it’s crucial for the hunters that it’s snow on the ground because otherwise, it gets too difficult for them to find the wolves.

The most efficient way to hunt wolves

A hunter said that the most effective way to kill wolves is to take advantage of the Wolves’ flight behavior and hunt down the wolves with two dogs on a leash. And when the dogs get eager and start barking, the hunters surround the wolves before they let the dogs loose. They do that, so the dogs get the upper hand over the wolves. And when the wolves flee for their life they get shot by the hunters who stood there waiting for them.

Hunters are allowed to keep the fur

The one who kills a wolf can keep the fur, but the skinned body is sent to the National Veterinary Institute where they do an autopsy to check health, age and so on. By the way, during this license hunt they also shot two wolves that suffered from scabies, so up to now, they have killed 26 wolves during the licensed hunt. Maybe the sick wolves didn’t count since they couldn’t keep the fur from them…

The Lapps said it was like a Christmas gift when the wolves were going to die

On November 14, 2016, I posted a blog post named “Why do People Hate Wolves?” where I wrote about that it was recently discovered that there were two wolves here in the north of Sweden where I live. I mentioned that maybe they would kill the poor wolves since they aren’t allowed to live here because Lapps keep their reindeer here. I was right. At the end of last year, the Counties Agency ordered protective hunt on them and also on a couple of lone wolves that were passing through this area. The Lapps said that it was like a Christmas gift when they heard that the wolves were going to die. And it’s not only the Lapps in Sweden that got happy about it but also the Lapps in Norway because they have their reindeer on the Swedish east coast during the winter.

The bird associations questioned the Lapps

A couple of bird organizations appealed the decision to kill the wolves since they think that wolves are crucial for the biodiversity. For instance, the wolves leave cadavers that raptors feed on. These associations also questioned why the Norwegian Lapps are allowed to come with their reindeer to Sweden since they have a serious illness called CWD, Chronic Waste Disease, on deer in Norway, not far from where the Lapps keep their reindeer. And CWD is similar to mad cow disease. They also mentioned that there are other areas for Lapps to keep their reindeer during the winter. The area where the wolves lived only made up less than 17 percent used by the reindeer owners. But no one cared about that the Lapps could have had their reindeer somewhere else, they didn’t care at all what the bird associations said.

Wolves get hunted with snowmobiles and helicopters

Three of these wolves got killed between December 26 and December 29; one managed to get away so far. They were allowed to hunt these wolves with snowmobiles and helicopters. They were also authorized to use dogs but not more than three dogs on one wolf. Usually, they surround the wolves with the snowmobiles, and after that, they chase them to an open area like a mire or a lake. Then the hunter calls for the helicopter and then it’s easy for a hunter in the chopper to shoot the wolves.

A female wolf survived the attacks four times but got killed the 5th time

The wolf that died on December 29 managed to survive the hunting attacks four times. The hunters thought that it could depend on that there were many bushes in that area or that she had been exposed to hunting somewhere else in Sweden, that she understood that she should lay down and hide. Unfortunately, she got killed the fifth time they hunted her. One person said that she had been hiding in some brushwood. Then a few of the hunters walked over there to scare her, so she had nowhere else to run but into the clear-cutting area. There she got shot by a hunter in a helicopter. It breaks my heart…

Killing WOLVES is WRONG!

I wrote a poem called “When the Heart Calls” in loving memory of these wolves and for all other wolves that get killed. Just click on the title if you are interested in reading it.

And this is why I wrote my book “Flame and the Wolf” that got released last year. I wrote it because I think it’s vital teaching kids compassion towards wolves. It’s important to teach them that wolves have feelings too. Another reason why I wrote the story about Flame saving a wolf is that I’m strongly against hunting, it’s wrong to kill wolves!

Please, teach the kids that are close to you to show compassion for wolves because then maybe they don’t grow up and become hunters.

There are lots of hypocrites in this world

By the way, isn’t it a little bit funny that lots of people who have dogs hate wolves…they don’t want the wolves to be in the forest, and some of these people kill the wolves. I wonder if these people have forgotten that domesticated dogs come from wolves. But I’m not surprised, there are lots of hypocrites in this world, they say one thing but do another. And in this case, plenty of people claim to love their dogs, but they want to kill the animal which dogs originated from. I don’t understand that kind of individuals…