Death threats for Norway wolf hunters

Wolves were hunted to near extinction until 30 years ago

OSLO, Norway -- Norwegian hunters have received death threats after setting off to kill nine wolves in the forests of southeast Norway.

The hunt was organised after frightened residents complained about the nine wolves roaming outside a protected territory in Osterdalen, a remote, largely wilderness valley.

Svein Norberg, spokesman of the Directorate of Nature Management which is overseeing the cull, said on Sunday that the threats were from someone saying the "hunters would die before the wolves."

The threats came as the 23-strong team ended a second day of the hunt without even spotting a wolf and facing increasingly heavy snow.

Wolves were hunted to near extinction in southern Scandinavia until they were protected about 30 years ago and now there is a fast-growing population of about 100 in the border region of Norway and Sweden.

They have been blamed for killing 612 sheep last year.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says there are only about 80 wolves in south Scandinavia, with only 30 to 40 in Norway.

It says the numbers will mean constant inbreeding and are too few for a viable population. Environmentalists hope a court on Tuesday will rule the hunt illegal.

But Norway says wolf stocks are rising too rapidly and that there are 12 packs in south Scandinavia, or about 120 animals, above an initial goal of at least 8-10 packs set in the mid-1990s as part of a policy of encouraging the predators.

When the hunt was announced, a national newspaper warned that Norway, already criticised for hunting whales and seals, would be seen abroad as a nation of "barbarians."

Swedish environmental officials have also expressed concern because they believe at least 200 wolves -- some researchers say 500 -- are needed to sustain the population.

Even the Swedish hunters' association criticised the hunt as "unseemly" because of plans to use snowmobiles and a helicopter, both banned in normal hunts.

But opinion polls have shown the majority of people in Norway -- a wealthy nation with a population of 4.5 million -- in favour.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Norway wolf hunt goes ahead
February 10, 2001
Norway wolf hunt sparks anger
February 5, 2001

Norway: Government and Ministries
WWF

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