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Beyond 2000:
Realities of Global Wolf Restoration
23-26 February 2000
Duluth, Minnesota USA
J. Henry Fair
Dan Anders Bjärvall (third
from left), IUCN Wolf Specialist, Sweden with Iyad Nader,
Christoph Promberger, Yadvendradev Jhala, Luigi Boitani and
Cornelia Hutt.
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Anders Bjärvall, The Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency, Blekholmsterrassen 36, S-10648 Stockholm, Sweden
When the wolf was protected in Sweden in 1966 and Norway in 1973,
there were probably fewer than ten individuals left in Scandinavia.
However, reproduction was verified in northernmost Sweden in 1978.
After that, the number of wolves again decreased almost to zero.
At the same time reports of wolf sightings started to appear from
a region in west-central Sweden close to the Norwegian border. In
1982, we began to realize that if the wolf would be able to survive
in Scandinavia, it would be in this region. Wolves repopulation
in this region can be divided into three phases. The first began
with the first reproduction here in 1983 and lasted through 1990.
During these 8 years, seven litters of wolves were known to have
been born here. Still, the estimated total number of wolves never
exceeded ten. During the second phase (1991 to 1995) two litters
of wolves were verified each year. The number of wolves exceeded
20 towards the end of this phase. During the current third phase,
obvious population growth took place. The number of litters increased
to three in 1996 and to five or six thereafter, and the total number
of wolves last winter was estimated at 62-78.0 To investigate the
opinion in Sweden as to this growing population, more than 2000
Swedes were interviewed by telephone in late 1997. More than two-thirds
of the respondents could accept a wolf population twice as big as
the 40-60 wolves that were in Scandinavia at that time. Further,
more than 40% were willing to accept at least 500 wolves. The study
also gave interesting information about differences among demographic
groups. A Swedish governmental Carnivore commission recently submitted
a proposal for a future Swedish Carnivore policy. The commission
suggested 200 wolves as the minimum goal for the future. Before
that goal will be reached, only wolves causing particular problems
would be allowed to be killed. In areas with semidomestic reindeer
management, wolf reproduction should be avoided but generously compensated
if occurring. The presence in those areas of pairs or single wolves
is considered important for the gene-flow from the east to the Scandinavian
population and would also be compensated.
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