Sweden's Environmental Agency unveils wolf reduction plan

Sweden's Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) released a new wolf management plan covering 2026‑2031. The plan follows the government's decision to cut the national wolf population from about 355 to a target of 170, with an initial reduction to 270 wolves.

The strategy calls for individual monitoring of wolves and considers the possible relocation of single wolves by helicopter to maintain a favorable conservation status. It also outlines conditions for future license hunting, which could resume in winter 2027 if county authorities deem it feasible and legal reviews approve the measures. The agency emphasizes that the plan is a framework to support county‑level actions and will be supplemented with detailed guidance on hunting licences and relocations.

Animal‑rights groups have sharply criticized the plan, calling it a lack of respect for wild animals and warning that relocation could cause stress and suffering. The European Commission has also questioned the adequacy of Sweden’s calculations for the reduced population required under EU habitat directives, and a Luleå administrative court previously blocked a licence hunt for insufficient evidence that it would not jeopardise the species' status.