In June last year, the government decided to lower the Swedish minimum wolf population from 300 to 170 animals. The decision was criticized by the European Commission, which considered it unscientific and a risk to the species' long-term viability.
On Friday, the government sent out a press release in which the number was increased by 50 animals.
"The value is now adjusted up slightly, to 220, which still represents a significant reduction compared to the previous level," the government writes.
According to Peter Kullgren, it has "fairly little practical significance" that the reference value must now be raised.
"There has been a discussion and a lot of back and forth with the commission. Our goal for this year's wolf hunt was to get down to 270 in a first step, until we get more management measures in place," he says, referring to the government's interim goal this year to reduce the wolf population.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has been tasked with reporting the new reference value to the European Commission by Friday next week, August 7th.
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