Hunters have until March 31 in southern and central Sweden and until April 15 in northern Sweden.
But by Monday morning, 83 lynxes had already been shot since March 1 when the licensed hunting began, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's database Rovbase.
The pace of the hunt is affected by several factors, including the weather.
It's about track conditions, among other things, says Hanna Ek, deputy head of the Environmental Protection Agency's wildlife management unit.
218 families
The county administrative boards decide how many lynxes can be shot, and then it's up to each hunting rights holder to decide whether to conduct lynx hunting in a particular area.
In the latest lynx inventory in 2023-2024, 296 family groups of lynxes were found in Scandinavia, of which 218 were in Sweden. A total of 1,276 individuals were found in Sweden.
The lynx is a protected species covered by the EU's species and habitat directive, and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation believes that licensed hunting violates species protection rules.
"Important tools"
The association sees the hunt as a threat to the long-term survival of the lynx population in Sweden and rejects the argument that the number of lynxes needs to be regulated to prevent damage to domestic animals and reindeer.
Our task as a national hunting and wildlife authority is to implement the predator policy that has been decided, and there are both licensed hunting and protective hunting of lynxes as important tools in wildlife management, says Hanna Ek.
