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HUNTING

Should Sweden foot the bill for radioactive wild boar?

The Swedish Food Agency wants the state to provide funding for tests of radioactivity in wild boar.

Published: 22 December 2019 11:45 CET
Should Sweden foot the bill for radioactive wild boar?
File photo: Michael Probst/TT

The agency has called in a broad proposal for the state to cover the cost of analyses due to high radioactivity in wild boar in some areas, SVT Gävleborg reports.

Wild boar in areas including Uppsala and the Gävleborg and Västmanland counties can still have high levels of radioactivity as a result of fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The animal can absorb radioactivity from roots in the ground and some individuals contain high levels, according to the report.

Boar with high levels of radioactivity must be destroyed. The Swedish Food Agency has also asked for the government to cover costs for this.

Sweden already wants to increase shooting of wild boars, in order to control the population size. The wild animal can cause damage or risk to agriculture, homes and traffic.

The Food Agency estimates that around 400 million kronor per year can be saved by implementing its plan to reduce the number of wild boar.

“If all (our) proposals were launched with government subsidies, there would a benefit for society if you compare the costs we currently have in agriculture and traffic,” says Arja Helena Kautto, project manager at the Swedish Food Agency, told SVT.

READ ALSO: Record radiation levels found in Swedish wild boar

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HUNTING

Swedish regions raise limits on bear-hunting to combat attacks on reindeer

Several Swedish regions have increased the number of bears that can be killed during this year's hunting season.

Published: 2 July 2021 11:16 CEST
Updated: 2 July 2021 18:00 CEST
Swedish regions raise limits on bear-hunting to combat attacks on reindeer
A hunter prepares to go out on the first day of the bear-hunting season in Sweden. Photo: Adam Ihse / TT

Jämtland is doubling the amount of bears that are allowed to be killed in the region this year to 200. 

The decision comes after the regional bear population has grown to 1,044 at the last count. Jämtland is hoping that the expanded license will reduce the number of bears to around 650.  

“We have assessed that the heavy expansion of licensed hunting is necessary, partly to reduce the bear population to the regional target within five years,” said Emma Andersson, who is in charge of managing game and hunting for the region.

Sweden allows some licensed hunting of bears, partly because of their interference with reindeer herding, one of the main economic sectors in northern Sweden for Indigenous Sámi people.

There are around 1,000 reindeer herding companies in Sweden, and an estimated 2,500 people are dependent on incomes from reindeer herding, according to the website of the Sámi parliament.

The presence of predators in northern Sweden has become a complicated political issue as they pose a great threat to the sustainable farming practices of the Sámi. The Sámi parliament estimates that one quarter of reindeer are killed by predators each year, significantly higher than the ten percent limit set by parliament. 

At the same time, the hunting of bears and other predators like wolves must be strictly overseen by the region due to their protected status. 

The increased allowance for hunting bears in Jämtland is directed specifically towards areas where there is a clear link that it could harm the reindeer herding industry, according to the regional board.

Similar decisions have been taken in Västerbotten, where 85 bears can be killed this year compared to 25 in the previous year, and in Västernorrland where they are allowing 75, almost doubling the previous year’s figure.

While no decision has been taken yet in Norrbotten, the hunting association is demanding similar measures, as 20 bears were shot last year during the hunt and another 60 through emergency measures to protect reindeer.

The licensed hunting period takes place between August 21st and October 15th in Norrbotten every year, with some exceptions.

A count by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency found that there were around 2,900 bears in total in Sweden as of 2017.

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