This year, the county administrative boards in ten counties have decided on licensed hunting of a total of 87 lynxes. Ahead of this year's hunt, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation has backed a complaint against Sweden that the Swedish Predatory Association has submitted to the EU Commission.
They believe that the licensed hunting violates the species protection rules in the EU's species and habitat directive and that the Commission should initiate a so-called infringement procedure, which can lead to fines.
We want something to happen. It's almost a year since the complaint was submitted, so we want our Environment Commissioner to take this further, says Isak Isaksson, biologist and expert on predatory animal issues at the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
Open letter to the Environment Commissioner
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is highlighting its stance in an open letter to EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall.
"We fear not only for the long-term survival of the lynx population in Sweden. We also fear that Sweden is setting an example of how to circumvent important legislation", it says, among other things, in the letter.
Sweden is becoming the scapegoat for how to circumvent nature conservation legislation, says Isak Isaksson.
Licensed hunting of lynxes may only take place under strictly controlled forms. Protective hunting and certain licensed hunting are carried out according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the number of lynxes and prevent damage to domestic animals and reindeer.
"Rather a type of trophy hunting"
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation has objections to the licensed hunting being carried out for preventive purposes. According to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation's figures, an average of 125 domestic animals have been killed annually outside reindeer herding areas over the past 20 years. The domestic animals are mainly sheep and correspond to 0.02 percent of the sheep in Sweden.
We believe that this is rather a type of trophy hunting. Serious damage can be regulated with protective hunting or prevented with predator-deterrent fencing, he says and continues.
They are misinterpreting these exception rules.
296 family groups of lynxes were documented in Scandinavia during the latest inventory period 2023/2024. Compared to the previous inventory, there was a decrease of 18 family groups. 218 family groups, which are females accompanied by cubs, were documented in Sweden and the remaining 78 in Norway. Approximately 1,738 lynxes are estimated to exist in Scandinavia, with 1,276 of them in Sweden.
The right to decide on licensed hunting has been delegated from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to the county administrative boards throughout the country, except in Gotland County. The decisions are based on the direction decided by the regional administration.
The licensed hunting of lynxes may last at most from March 1 to March 31 in southern and central Sweden and from March 1 to April 15 in northern Sweden.
Source: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
