Hundreds of Lynx to be Slaughtered in Sweden Following Largest Ever Wolf Cull

Conservationists have condemned Sweden’s issuing of lynx hunting licenses, branding the cull “trophy hunting”, reports The Guardian. This as hunters barely conceal their ‘excitement’ over the cull.

The country has issued licenses to hunters to kill a total of 201, just weeks after dozens of wolves were killed in Sweden’s largest wolf cull in modern times. This lynx slaughter number is more than double the number of that in recent years.

Wildlife activists and conservationists say the planned cull is well above any limits needed to protect people or livestock and are asking the EU to take action against Sweden for breaching environmental war. The EU Habitats Directive states that hunting may be permitted either to prevent damage to livestock or in the interests of public safety.

“This is a trophy hunt, just like going to Africa to hunt lions,” said Magnus Orrebrant, head of animal rights advocacy group Svenska Rovdjursföreningen. The group has started a petition calling for the trophy hunting of lynx to be stopped. “Hundreds of foreign hunters come to Sweden for lynx hunting because they think it is exciting.”

Last month, conservationists warned that Europe’s lynx population could collapse unless immediate efforts were made to protect the species. Tests on the remaining cats in France show that their genetic diversity is so low, they will become locally extinct within the next 30 years without intervention.

There are an estimated 1,450 lynx spread across Sweden – around 300 fewer than a decade ago. The Swedish hunters’ association, Svenska Jägareförbundet, admits the animals do not pose a danger to humans, and Swedish environmental protection agency Naturvårdsverket argues that the country needs only 870 animals to maintain a healthy population.

“The hunt is absolutely not linked to any danger to humans,” said hunting association advisor, Henrik Falk. “Neither is wolf hunting – there are no documented cases of wolves attacking humans in Swedish modern times. The lynx hunt is more about the excitement, and for some hunters, of course, the skin is the motivation.”

It is “strongly questionable” that the issues of public or livestock safety applies to lynx in Sweden, said predator expert Benny Gäfwert of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “We do not think the hunters can invoke these exceptions, and we have notified the EU Commission,” he said.

“That hunting occurs, we do not, in itself, have a problem with, but the extent to which it occurs in relation to the low damage caused by the lynx is unwarranted.” He added that the WWF is also challenging Sweden’s explanation for its ongoing wolf cull.

Historically, lynx have ranged across Eurasia but have come under intense pressure in many countries due to habitat loss, poaching, traffic collisions and inbreeding. In Britain, calls to reintroduce lynx to the wild were rejected last month by environment minister, Thérèse Coffey.

The planned lynx hunt is taking place during the mating season when the animals’ fur is thickest, making it particularly attractive to hunters, according to Marie Stegard Lind of anti-hunting group Jaktkritikerna. “This is completely unnecessary – a pure trophy hunt,” she said. Conservationists have underscored the importance of lynx in controlling Sweden’s large population of deer, moose and boar.

“As an organization committed to the preservation of all species, we strongly condemn the cull and all other instances of trophy hunting,” said David Barritt, executive director of Animal Survival International. “In a world where more than a million species are threatened with extinction, there is simply no place for the gratuitous killing of any animal.”