NORWEGIAN WOLVES YEAR 2003

It was estimated to be between 13 to 16 stationary wolves in Norway after the tracking on snow in 2002.  Despite Norway’s policy of maintaining a symbolic amount of wolves at an absolute minimum, no officially authorised hunt of wolves was granted in 2002 due to the critically low amount of individuals.  The following provides a summary of the wolves in Norway prior to the start of 2003:

Read the story about Sno
"Sno " .... The Lone Wolf of Langedrag originally came from the Koppang pack and was born in 2000. Read more

Since the alpha male of the Koppang pack was shot in 1999, the pack has been dispersing and individuals have left the Koppang habitat (the wolf that became stationary outside Langedrag Nature Park and was tranquillised and brought into the park in 2001 derives from the Koppang pack).  A male has now joined the remaining alpha female of the Koppang habitat and again puppies have been born in Koppang.  This area falls outside the protective zones and the local communities of Stor-Elvdal and Rendalen municipalities are putting pressure on the central authorities to wipe out the pack in a similar manner as what happened to the Atnadal pack in 2000.  With a new pack arising in the Koppang area and the fact that the area is outside the protection zones may lead to certain actions and discussions this year even though this area provides some of the best habitats in the country.  (The authorities decided without scientific purposes to radio tag the wolves in the Koppang habitat in 2002, but were not able to do so due to poor tracking conditions).

The situation in the Gråfjell habitat has been rather unclear since the Gråfjell couple had puppies in 2001 but the puppies disappeared and the alpha male (the alpha male in the Gråfjell habitat is the largest wolf in Scandinavia weighing 54 kg) was more in the Koppang habitat further North with the Koppang alpha female than in the Gråfjell habitat.  The alpha female in the Koppang habitat is the sister of the Gråfjell alpha male and these visits have stopped after a new male has taken the place as the alpha male in Koppang.  It was surprising that there are puppies in the Gråfjell habitat this year where the Gråfjell couple is now defined as a family group.  The Gråfjell habitat stretches both within and outside the protection zones and both alpha individuals are radio tagged with GPS transceivers.  The puppies have within 2002 been tagged with radio senders (NB!  Not confirmed whether this is GPS transceivers or VHF transmitters) with the excuse that this is the first time wolf puppies have been followed through tagging.

It was understood early 2002 that the radio tagged alpha male (VHF transmitter) had disappeared from the Moss/Våler pack.   When a pack looses the leadership of an alpha couple, the pattern of predication usually changes meaning that the individuals hunt more independently.  Observations in the summer of 2002 indicated that the Moss/Våler pack has followed the same pattern and several of the remaining individuals have been observed very close to human activities causing fear in the area. 

The Heimdal wolf that was considered as stationary in the beginning of 2002 has disappeared from the area.  Earlier in 2002 local farmers were using sheep as bait in the winter period and claimed that if an official hunting license was not granted the wolf would be killed anyway.  The wolf is not in the area any longer and one can just speculate in what has happened to the wolf in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen.

No individuals are observed in the Atnadal or Imsdal habitat.  These habitats are where the wolves that were killed through the government authorised culling in 2000 where located.

The Scandinavian wolves are constituted by the Norwegian, the Swedish, and the border packs and consists of 100 to 110 individuals.  Several radio tagged individuals have also disappeared in Sweden in addition to the radio tagged alpha male of the Kongsvinger/Årjäng border pack.   The radios that have been used operate on the VHF band and continuously radiate on fixed frequency.  It is an easy task to scan frequencies and home on a fixed frequency for any one with a basic background in electronics.  Such devices are also available on the commercial market and it is reason to believe that certain people or communities of people within Norway and Sweden have used the possibilities to perform illegal hunting considering the amount of radio tagged wolves that have simply disappeared. 

It seems now that the environments performing radio tagging have understood the possibilities for illegal hunting based on VHF transmitters and transceivers based GPS (Global Positioning System) are now more and more used in Scandinavia.  GPS transceivers are more suitable for scientific purposes and provide accurate positional data within preset intervals.  GPS transceivers require more effort to track considering shorter range to the subject animal and transmission at determined time that are preset.  This introduces a device that is much more difficult to track illegally but not impossible without going into further details concerning that.  GPS transceivers are heavier than the GPS transmitters and more expensive.

In the summer of 2002 a couple of dogs were almost killed nearby Bjørkelangen in the municipal of Aurskog/Høland.  This is the Habitat of the border pack of Kongsvinger/Årjäng.  The owners of the dogs saw that the dogs started to choke with the back legs and rear parts paralysed.  Quick aid from veterinarians saved the dogs. Four packages of poison bait were found crossing the middle of the habitat in the same period.  The use of such poison causes the most painful way possible in killing an animal and it does not only target the wolves but also smaller predators and scavengers such as foxes and crows in addition to dogs.  This has been done in other habitats too and we in JointAction for wolves are sad and ashamed that there are people capable of doing such things in our country.

The results of an extensive DNA analysis involving 41 dead and 29 live Scandinavian wolves were revealed in 2002.  The DNA analysis provides an overview of each family group and alpha couple in Scandinavia.  Additionally, the results showed clearly similarities between the profiles in Scandinavia and the profiles found in Finland and Russia.

The analysis has concluded that all the wolves currently alive in Scandinavia derive and have gene material from three individuals meaning that all are closely related to each other.  Two of these three individuals were a brother and sister that mated in 1987 in the habitat of Nyskoga.  This is not normal wolf behaviour where establishment of alpha couples between first line relatives is normally avoided, but it happened probably due to the lack of other individuals and was an important milestone for the survival of the Scandinavian wolves.

Another important milestone happened in 1991 when a male wolf migrated from Finland and introduced new gene material and became the third wolf from which the Scandinavian wolves derive.

The DNA analysis was important in order to kill many rumours that the Scandinavian wolves are constituted by hybrids (mix between wolf and dog) and/or wolves deriving from the Baltic countries that are illegally released in Scandinavia.  It is not easy to understand the motivation behind such rumours but it is assumed that the rumours derive from people whom are not so happy that the wolves have returned.

Another issue revealed through the DNA analysis is that variations in three genes were found in the alpha female of Atnadal that are not found in any other individuals.  The Atnadal alpha female was killed in the government authorised culling in 2000.  It was because of and during that culling JointAction for wolves was established.

In 2001 a wolf migrated from Finland into the northern parts of Sweden.  The Scandinavian wolves are located in the Southern parts of Norway and Sweden and we have been hoping that the wolf named “John” would migrate further from the North to the South in order to strengthen variations in the gene material of the Scandinavian population as described above.  John has throughout 2002 been stationary in the area up in the North.  These Northern areas host herds of tame reindeer and there has been a lot of pressure upon the Swedish authorities to shoot this wolf.  It was additionally revealed by helicopter that seven people chased the wolf in the winter of 2002 using snowmobiles.

In the late autumn of 2002 an application to hunt the Norbotten wolf was denied by the authorities in Sweden because the wolf could still migrate to the South.  JointAction for wolves had a signature campaign prior to this decision.

It is now confirmed that a female wolf is in the area and has joined “John”.  This changes the situation and it is anticipated that new discussions will arise in 2003 concerning the future of both wolves.

Scandinavian JointAction for wolves was established during a government authorised culling in year 2000 where one of three Norwegian wolf packs in addition to a wolf couple was wiped out cutting the amount of individuals down from 26 to 16. Read the story An artist named Skule Waksvik protested against the authorities by making a wolf sculpture in full size and a plaque attached to it stating “In memory of the wolves massacred in Stor-Elvdal in 2000”.  This sculpture was given free of charge to a zoo located in the town of Kristiansand in the summer of 2002.  Kristiansand zoo satisfied Skule Waksvik’s wishes where he wanted his sculpture to be erected at public place where as many people as possible could see it and also be placed at a safe place to avoid actions from wolf haters.  Additionally, the zoo will use the sculpture when they perform guided tours for school classes where they will explain what happened in Atnadal and Imsdal in addition to informing about the Norwegian conservation policy that was behind the culling.

It is not only wolves that suffers from a conservation policy in Norway where non-tolerance and symbolic amount of individuals within species are prevailing.  The amount of lynx in Norway has been reduced from 600 to 250 over the recent three years because of hunting.

It is anticipated that 2003 will also be a busy year for Scandinavian JointAction for wolves with many challenges.

·     Norway is currently working on a proposal for a renewed conservation policy for large carnivores.  The so-called “Rovviltmeldingen” in which is the proposal that will be forwarded to parliament.  Many interests will seek influence upon this proposal including communities that consider today’s policy as too carnivore friendly.  Scandinavian JointAction for wolves will seek co-operation with other organisations and work for a better conservation policy for wolves and the other large carnivores.

·     Increasing amount of wolves outside the protection zones will lead to increased pressure on the authorities to reduce the amount.  It is anticipated that there will be discussions concerning the Koppang pack again.

·     The Swedish authorities have managed to keep the wolf in Norbotten alive based on the possibilities that the wolf may migrate further south.  There will be massive pressure from the reindeer owners and local community to do something about the situation since a new wolf has arrived in the area.

·     It is reason to believe illegal hunting and crime against nature is performed in a wide scale and we have to work in order to bring public awareness concerning this problem.

At the end of the summary of 2002 we would like to thank everyone who have supported us in 2002.

Read the 2002 story