Finnish officials cautious in approvig wolf hunting permits

Hunters and many residents in the areas where wolves have been seen are blaming the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the excessively tight policy of granting permits for the hunting of wolves.
     
Following the claim by the Advocate-General in the EC Court at the end of November that Finland's practice of granting permits to kill wolves outside reindeer husbandry areas violates the EU's Nature Directive, Finnish officials have become cautious when approving such permits.
      The Advocate-General put forward a proposal to the Court of Justice of the European Communities calling for a ruling against Finland for the violation, and a decision is due in a few months.
      However, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Juha Korkeaoja (Centre) has proposed that Finland should apply to the European Union for an alleviation of the directive relating to the conservation of wolves.
      The current directive forbids the killing of all wolves, with a few specific exceptions.
     
According to the ministry, the strict conservation of wolves should be rolled back, as the wolf population has increased strongly and there has been no threat to the population in terms of nature protection during the period of Finland's EU membership.
     
Riku Lumiaro from the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation would also allow the hunting of individual troublemaker wolves, whose killing is seen as necessary for the prevention of damage. However, he stresses that the regulations must be followed.
      A few such troublemakers have been seen in recent decades. Typically, they are young wolves who have strayed from their pack and are repeatedly looking for food in the same yards.
      According to Tapani Veistola from the Association for Nature Conservation, there is no need to change the regulations, as the current directive does already allow for certain exceptions.
      "It would be best to leave the wolves alone and let them hunt elk and deer. Then they would not need to attack dogs", Veistola concluded.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Advocate-General in EC Court says wolf hunting in Finland illegal (1.12.2006)
  Wolves seen near Helsinki (29.11.2006)
  A wolf consumes ten elk in a year on average (3.5.2005)

Links:
  The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry