The court notes that the proposed reduction in the wolf population would not be sufficient to reach a so-called favorable conservation status and therefore would endanger the wolf's long-term survival.
In June 2025, the government decided to lower the Swedish minimum level for wolves from 300 to 170 animals. The decision has been criticized by the European Commission, which considers it unscientific and says it risks the species' long-term viability.
The so-called reference value for a population size is the lowest number of individuals that is deemed necessary at the national level without the species becoming extinct.
In November, the European Commission urged Sweden to revise the decision. The Commission considered that Sweden's minimum limit of 170 wolves was unscientific and risked the species' long-term viability.
The same month, the county administrative boards decided on the 2026 licensed hunt, allocating 48 animals in five counties.
In early December, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation appealed the county administrative boards' decision. The organisation said it "contradicts both science and EU law" and risks "irreversible damage to the wolf population."
Stopped hunting
All county administrative boards appealed to the Court of Appeal, whose decision now means that licensed wolf hunting has been stopped this winter.
"We see that the government is trying to push this to the breaking point, which has neither scientific nor legal support. And these rulings show that," says Rindevall.
She believes that Sweden is well placed to handle any predator problems - in ways other than licensed hunting.
"We are absolutely in favor of creating protection, such as protective hunting of problematic individuals and compensation for predator fences and the like."
The Hunters' Association is dissatisfied.
"It is clearly a disappointment, even though it was expected," says union chairman Mikael Samuelsson.
However, he believes there will be hunting next winter, as he understands that the government and authorities want to reduce the population.
Can be appealed
The decision to stop wolf hunting can still be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court - but that does not worry the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
"We feel confident that this goes against the legislation we have today. And the case would be precedent-setting if it were taken to the next level, so we don't think there will be any appeal," says Rindevall.
Mikael Samuelsson also does not believe that the decision will be appealed.
"I don't know what the county administrative boards intend to do, but they don't really need to appeal since both the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal came to the same conclusion."
On January 26, 2026, the Court of Appeal in Sundsvall announced that it would reject the county administrative boards' appeal.
