“Strange,” says Jeroen Helmer of nature organization ARK Rewilding Netherlands, “Sweden is a member of the European Union and according to European rules, lynxes and wolves may only be shot if they pose a threat to humans or livestock, and there is no alternative. lynx is a forest animal and will not leave that forest. It is very shy and does not pose any danger to humans or livestock. Hunting is therefore not necessary at all. In fact, the lynx will also restrict the wolf.”
Trophy hunting
“It’s purely a trophy hunt for fun, just like lions are hunted in Africa,” Magnus Orrebrant of a Swedish animal rights organization told The Guardian. He has started a petition to stop the lynx hunt. The World Wildlife Fund also believes that it is in violation of European rules and has informed the European Commission.
According to the Swedish Hunters’ Association, the country’s 1,500 lynxes make up one of the most densely populated populations in the world. As a result, according to the association, deer numbers have declined by 80 percent in some areas, leaving hunters with fewer hunting opportunities. The lynxes themselves would also have a lack of prey. In addition, reindeer husbandry is in danger, lynxes are said to kill 30,000 reindeer annually. Reducing the number of lynx is therefore urgently needed and the lynx is not endangered in Sweden, says the Swedish hunters’ association.
What is a Lynx?
The lynx is the largest feline in Europe. It has large legs and a short tail. The plumed ears are striking. Its main prey are rodents and cervids. He lives in the forest and needs a large area.
The lynx used to live in all major forest areas, today there are only about 10,000 in Europe. Its habitat has been restricted and it has been hunted a lot for its fur. In France, the animal is seriously endangered, there are too few to maintain the population. Years ago, Germany started a successful project to reintroduce the lynx and the animal was subsequently seen again in Belgium.
“It is nonsense”, says Jeroen Helmer of ARK, “that predators would eat too many prey animals and thus endanger their own survival. If there is too little food, fewer predators will remain and the number of prey animals can recover. It is especially annoying for the hunters. They have less prey to shoot and the need for hunting disappears. That is difficult to accept for the average Scandinavian who has hunting in the blood.”
Wolf hunting
Not only the lynx is hunted a lot in Sweden, the wolf was also hunted last month. And of those, too, many more were allowed to be killed than in previous years: 75. Scientists warn that the population, which is less than 500 individuals, is seriously threatened as a result. But according to Swedish farmers, hundreds of sheep are killed by wolves every year and should therefore be prevented from becoming too many.
Lynx in the Netherlands
Due to the return to Germany and Belgium, the lynx is again at the border with the Netherlands. Jeroen Helmer would like to see him come: “The lynx can play an important role in the Veluwe: together with the wolf, it can keep the ungulates sharp, the red deer, roe deer and fallow deer. That would also be good for the vegetation, which is now suffering from the large number of roe deer and deer that stay in the same place. But that role for the lynx is not there now, the connections are not good enough. There must be wide connections, so that the lynx can move over a large area.”