Elk hunting begins next week in the northern part of the country. Just in time for that, SLU notes that the stock is increasing. The increase is visible throughout the country, writes the university on its web.
After ten years of decline, there were approximately 300,000 elks in Sweden before the hunt last autumn. This is an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year.
The reason is that hunters over the past two years have actively chosen to shoot fewer animals than they were allocated. Above all, it is elk cows that are being spared. The hunters' choice is likely due to the fact that they want to reverse the decline in the elk stock, according to SLU. A declining willingness to hunt and shoot suggests that the shooting targets are no longer accepted by the hunters, SLU writes in the report.
SLU's calculations are used to develop management plans for the elk and for the evaluation of whether the elk should be redlisted. On SLU's new preliminary list of redlisted species, the elk is included, and the proposal is that it should be classified as "near threatened".
