The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is planning to allow the hunting of at least 65 wolves this coming winter.
The ministry has decided a wolf population of 273 would ensure a favourable conservation status, far below the current population of about 430. Finland determines the large predator’s conservation status in a report to the European Commission, which EU member states must submit every six years.
The latest report, issued on Friday and covering the 2019-24 period, declares the Finnish wolf population is at a favourable conservation level through most of the country, up to Fell Lapland, the northwesternmost part of the country.
46% growth in a year
According to a report published by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) at the end of September, the number of wolves in Finland has risen dramatically, especially in the west and southwest. Wolves prey on livestock and pets, but do not pose a serious direct threat to humans.
The institute estimated that there were around 430 wolves in the country last March, up by 46 percent from a year earlier. That is the month when the population is typically at its lowest, before cubs are born.
Even before that report was issued, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah (CD) said in a social media post last month that she would propose that wolves hunting be allowed from the beginning of next year.
She said the government would ask Parliament to approve a downgrading of the wolf's conservation status from a fully protected species to a protected species. Last spring, the European Parliament made a similar decision, which has been sharply criticised by conservation groups.
Essayah, a former MEP and world champion in race walking, she has led the ministry for just over two years and the small Christian Democrats party for a decade.
Elk hunting underway
Meanwhile elk hunting season began throughout the country on Saturday. The Finnish Wildlife Agency has issued over 38,000 elk hunting permits for this season.
Elk hunting already began at the beginning of September in Lapland and parts of Northern Ostrobothnia, but spread to cover all of Finland on 11 October. The nationwide hunting season ends on 15 January.
Luke estimates that there are about 87,000 European elk (similar to North American moose) in Finland this year.