Dear European Commission,  

I am writing in regard to the Commission’s invitation to submit up-to-date data on wolf populations and their impact. 

I strongly advise against weakening the protection of wolves in the European Union and in Sweden in particular. A weakening of the protection would have a vastly detrimental effect on nature preservation in the Union and could very well lead to the extinction of the already fragile wolf population in Sweden. 

I call for the Commission to proceed with the ongoing infringement case concerning Swedish wolf management. This year, Swedish authorities decided to allow the hunting of 75 wolves. A record-breaking 57 wolves were shot – more than 12 per cent of the population. This evident transgression of the strict protection in the Habitats Directive gives strong reason for the Commission to bring the infringement case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.  

In line with the invitation, I would especially like to draw the Commission’s attention to the following facts and data: 

Dear European Commission,  

I’m deeply concerned about the future of the wolves in the European Union and Sweden and want to express my opinion in the matter and pass on important facts in line with the Commission’s invitation to do so. 

Europe’s fragile wolf population needs active protection measures from the Commission’s side. The Commission has hitherto been an important guardian of the Union’s nature and returning carnivore populations. A weakening of the wolves’ legal protection at this point could undo years of conservation work and set a harmful example.  

I therefore urge the Commission to strive for maintaining a strict protection of wolves, strengthen supervision and take active measures against Member States that don’t observe the rules in the Habitats Directive. 

The Scandinavian wolf population is small, isolated and fragile. In the winter of 2022-2023, the Swedish wolf population was estimated to 450 wolves, according to an official monitoring report:https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3068933

Due to decisions on hunting allowances from Swedish authorities, illegal hunting, accidents and natural mortality, the Swedish wolf population was estimated to have drastically decreased to 368 wolfs in the autumn of 2023, by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: https://www.slu.se/globalassets/ew/org/centrb/vsc/vsc-dokument/vsc-publikationer/andren-et-al-2023-berakningar-av-jaktuttag-varg-2024.pdf 

Wolves have a considerably positive effect on Swedish nature and ecology. Swedish research reports show for example that remains from prey killed by wolves benefit other species (Wikenros 2011). Wolves prey on weaker specimens of elk in average than hunters (Sand, Wikenros et al. 2012) which shows that the species has an important role as an apex predator in the natural selection: 
https://www.slu.se/globalassets/ew/org/inst/ekol/forskning/projekt/skandulv/publikationer/doktorsavhandlingar/wikenros-2011-the-return-of-the-wolf---effects-on-prey-competitors-and-scavengers.pdf 

https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/z2012-007 

To conclude, I strongly urge the Commission to take action to protect Europe’s valuable wolves, and not weaken the necessary protection. 

Best regards,

Harry Johansson
Varberg