Response to interpellation 2024/25:522 on trophy hunting of wolverines
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns license hunting of wolves and whether it is compatible with the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives. KD argues that license hunting is a tool for responsible wildlife management that is compatible with the directive because the wolf population has a favorable conservation status 1. KD emphasizes that hunting is needed to regulate the number of wolves, prevent damage, and create acceptance in rural areas 2. MP claims that the hunting takes place during sensitive periods and that the driving force is trophy hunting, which creates a loophole in the regulations. MP argues that the wolf causes marginal damage and that the hunting is unjustified 3. MP also questions the reference values for the population 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! Rebecka Le Moine has asked me what I intend to do to reduce hunting of endangered species, what I intend to do so that the lynx population can be strengthened, and how I want to ensure that we in Sweden do not conduct hunting solely because of the desire to have a trophy of an endangered animal.
Madam Speaker! The lynx is a strictly protected species under the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives, which means, among other things, that the Member States must ensure that any hunting of the species does not make it more difficult to maintain a favorable conservation status. Licensed hunting of lynx, which takes place under strictly regulated forms in Sweden, is, according to the Government's assessment, compatible with the directive and is a tool for responsible and sustainable wildlife management.
The Government has appointed a special investigator to review the hunting legislation. The purpose is to create a modern and systematic legislation and to improve the implementation of EU legal rules. The investigator shall, among other things, propose both a new hunting act and a new hunting ordinance and improve the implementation of the EU regulatory framework, as well as take a position on the need for changes in the criminal law regulation in the hunting legislation.
To maintain a favorable conservation status for the lynx population, developments are monitored closely, and decisions on license hunting are made based on scientific recommendations. The Swedish lynx population has a favorable conservation status. This means that there is an opportunity for protection hunting and some license hunting to regulate the number of lynx and prevent damage to domestic animals and reindeer. The hunting rights holder may keep the pelt provided that all requirements for the hunt, including reporting and inspection, are met.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Madam Speaker! The hunt for wolverines has just concluded. This is the so-called license hunt. Just as the Minister for Rural Affairs mentions, wolverines are a species that, according to the EU's Birds and Habitats Directive, should be strictly protected. Nevertheless, a license hunt is permitted. The hunt also takes place during a very sensitive period for the species, namely during its mating period. This also contravenes the EU's Birds and Habitats Directive.
It is also a hunt that is very popular. It is described by the Minister for Rural Affairs as a strictly regulated hunt. I would very much like the Minister for Rural Affairs to clarify for those participating in the debate what he means and put into those words: What is a strictly regulated hunt?
It is 84 lynxes that have been killed, and this is the third year in a row that pregnant lynxes with fetuses in their bellies have been shot. At the same time, we are talking about perhaps Sweden's most beloved animal. It is so popular that 97 percent of Swedes estimate that we have lynxes in Sweden. It is a very strong figure that also speaks its clear language.
At the same time, the lynx causes marginal damage, if one speaks in such terms, especially in central and southern Sweden. Nevertheless, most of the hunting is located precisely in southern and central Sweden.
The question is: Why then do we have this hunt, which so many consider completely unjustified and downright repulsive? It is simply about what the Minister for Rural Affairs also mentions, namely that one is allowed to keep the skin and the skull if one fills out a form. I do not call that strict in any way. One simply fills out a form and asks the State Veterinary Institute to return a cleaned and washed skull to put on the shelf at home. This is, therefore, the driving force behind it. It is usually not popular that one grants a hunt for something that is ultimately to become an ornament. That is exactly what is happening. That is why CITES exists, a convention that is intended to regulate trade with parts from endangered species. The lynx is also listed there.
Still, Madam Speaker, it is so that one as an interested trophy hunter can come to Sweden and shoot an animal of a protected and endangered species, skin it and take the skull with them to their home country. It is an obvious loophole that exists and which is being exploited.
Then the first thing I would very much like to know is the Minister for Rural Affairs' view on: How does the government intend to act so that these body parts cannot be taken advantage of – to prevent them from becoming the driving force?
As said: Hunting of wolverine in northern Sweden is a debate. But it is in central and southern Sweden, where it concerns marginal damage for sheep owners among others, where most wolverines have been shot, that hunting has then been granted. What do you intend to do to reduce the driving force itself, namely trophy hunting of wolverine?
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! I strongly oppose the claim that the motivation for the state-mandated wolverine license hunt is whether one, as a hunter, chooses to keep the pelt or not. That is not how I perceive the Swedish hunting community, and I believe that the Swedish hunting community should be treated with more respect than that.
The hunters carry out what the county administrative board, the state, decides. We see nothing strange in that one also gets to keep the skin if one so wishes. I believe that is quite much in line with how many hunters reason. They want to make use of as much as possible of the game they fell – as food or for other purposes.
Of course we shall fulfill our commitments according to EU legislation. But, as said, we do not intend to accept an administration that makes it difficult for people to live and work in the countryside. The rural industries are important. They must also be able to live side by side with the predators. But that requires a balance that works in practice, not just on paper.
Madam Speaker! I received the question as to whether I think we have a strictly regulated hunt. Yes, I actually believe that most people think that licensed hunting of our large predators is that. And is there any form of hunting that has been tested both up and down and back and forth, well, it is probably just that. It is about making decisions regarding the granting of hunting of our predators. There are often legal processes surrounding that. I therefore stand by my position that I think we now have a good order of things.
I can also state that we have approximately 1,300 wolverines in Sweden and that the assessment for favorable conservation status is 870.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Madam Speaker! The Minister for Rural Affairs is therefore suggesting that hunting organizations do not lobby, drive this, or vote in wildlife management delegations for the purpose of obtaining allocations in the license hunt. I do not quite share that picture. I also do not think it is a particularly strictly regulated form of hunting today.
This year, 349 foreign hunters have come here and participated in the hunt. A total of 2,825 hunters have registered to shoot 87 wolverines. That is, therefore, 32 hunters per wolverine. How can the Minister for Rural Affairs guarantee that the foreign hunters have a corresponding hunting license? Are such checks being carried out? How can one know that these trophies, when they are taken home, do not end up on any illegal market? I would very much like those questions to be answered during the course of the debate.
The Minister for Rural Affairs mentioned favorable conservation status. Favorable conservation status is a very important tool within the EU. But we also have the red list in Sweden, where the red-listed species are classified. There we have the lynx. That species is classified as vulnerable because the population has decreased over time.
When Sweden joined the EU in 1995, it was estimated that there were 870 individuals, and that was reported as the reference level. That means that with today's 1,276 lynxes, there is an opportunity to conduct hunting. But there are other figures that point out that the actual number in 1995 was rather 1,700 lynxes. With that figure, we would not have been able to allow license hunting today, because then it would be a minimum level.
Then I have a concrete question for the Minister for Rural Affairs. I am thinking about whether new knowledge and new facts about the wolverine population will emerge. Is it intended to adjust the reference value based on what Sweden's level was at the time of EU entry? That will also have an impact on the management.
I also intend to take the opportunity to ask about the downgrading of large carnivores. The Minister for Rural Affairs mentioned in the previous debate, very proudly, how the Swedish government has lobbied. You have done that very successfully. I congratulate you on being successful there. But it is very sad and tragic for all the species that are affected, not least the wolf.
In the paper that the Minister for Rural Affairs was the sender of, it also stated that they wanted to include the wolverines and downgrade them in this protection classification. Is that something the Minister for Rural Affairs is still pushing for? Or is the idea instead to find tools to ensure that the wolverine population can grow and become more robust moving forward?
Since this happened, the government, through Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, has signed the Kunming–Montreal agreement, where it explicitly states: The entire purpose of this global nature framework is to halt the loss of and reverse the trend for endangered species. It is about endangered species, including the lynx. One would rather want to see more political tools, legislation and such to ensure that this species can go from vulnerable to viable. Many Swedes dream of seeing lynx. They like lynx so much. The lynx means so much to so many.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! I will refrain from speculating on hypothetical figures but can state that the lynx population in Sweden is marginally above its reference value. It has been stable over the last decade and is present in all parts of the country.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has assessed that the lynx population remains stable and viable and that the number of individuals in the three predator management areas exceeds, as before, the respective established minimum levels and the international reference value of 870 individuals.
The latest inventory, 2023/24, showed that there were nearly 1,300 wolverines in Sweden. And the reference value is, as mentioned, 870. The number of individuals exceeds the minimum levels in all predator management areas. I think the facts speak for themselves. The management is working, and there is no reason to question a model that creates acceptance among those who live near the predators.
Rebecka Le Moine (MP)
Madam Speaker! I still do not think I have received an answer to my questions. How is one to ensure that the hunting of wolverines is not motivated by a desire and a will to obtain a trophy?
These are very telling figures. The hunting licenses are granted primarily in central and southern Sweden. It cannot be said that this is an animal that actually causes these conflicts. At the same time, it is one of the most popular animals we have, which many people and many Swedes dream of seeing. Then I cannot quite understand why the Minister for Rural Affairs has the view that the minimum level should be pressed down as soon as we have met it, so that we can allow more hunting of this very popular animal.
Madam Speaker! I would also like to raise an economic aspect of lynx management. The lynx is a very skilled predator of roe deer, fallow deer, and calves of red deer. Their presence also reduces the number of wildlife accidents. This is something that could save society very large sums of money. If one had let the 143 lynxes that were culled in 2024 live, one could have reduced the costs for traffic accidents by more than 50 million kronor – and then we haven't even started talking about the grazing damage.
It therefore feels unfortunate that one has a very narrow perspective when looking at this. With the missing answers in this debate, I must say that it sounds as if one primarily wants to satisfy that crowd of trophy hunters who are driving this hunt.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! Rebecka Le Moine needs to distinguish between getting answers to the questions or not and getting answers she does not like. I do not share the member's description of the lynx hunt or the motivation of hunters, and that is as good an answer as any to the allegations being made here.
If we let the lynx population continue to grow without clear management, we will sooner or later face increased trophy hunting, deeper conflicts, and a shrinking acceptance among those who actually live with predators in their backyard. It is neither sustainable nor responsible. A clear and controlled regulation of the population is therefore needed precisely so that we safeguard a viable lynx population – not despite it.
The licensing process is a necessary part of a long-term sustainable management that unites nature conservation with the reality of the countryside. We must reduce conflicts and restore trust in the predator policy. This requires a management that sees the human being, not just the theory.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.