There are four large carnivore species in Finland, all belonging to different families. The lynx is a feline, the wolf is a canine, the brown bear is from the family Ursus and the wolverine is from the family of weasels.
The wolf (Canis lupus) is a mammal of the canine family. Biologically speaking, it is the same species as the domestic dog. The wolf is the largest canine living in the wild. Out of all the northern predators, the wolf is the most social species that prefers to live in packs formed by family units. Wolves communicate with each other via postures, gestures, facial expressions, scent marks and howling. Contrary to what stories tell us, the wolves do not howl more than usual during the full moon. Wolves howl to signal the beginning of hunt, to guard their territory and to call the pack together.
Mon Jan 12 13:23:00 2015
According to the draft regulation made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, population-based licenses could be granted for the hunting of max. 29 wolves. The Finnish Wildlife Agency will assess and examine the case-specific grounds for the granting of licenses. Decisions concerning the received applications can be made after the regulation enters into force.
The EU’s Habitats Directive enables the population-based hunting of large carnivores on the conditions that the game species has a management plan and that the hunting will not weaken the obtainment of the protection level – and if there is no other satisfactory solution to the conflict. Until now, population-based hunting in Finland has concentrated on lynxes and bears, reducing conflicts caused by them. The hunting of wolves will be implemented as a two-year trial, where the effects of hunting on the wolf population, wolf pack structure and people’s attitudes will be closely examined.
Howling of a wolf pack
The wolf leaves tracks that are typical of large canines. Telling the tracks of a wolf apart from those left by a large dog is very difficult. As is typical of canines, the print left by the wolf's forepaw (10–11 cm) is larger than that left by its hindpaw (9–10 cm). When measuring wolf tracks, the ...
Wolves are on the move at all times of the day, but they are most active during dusk and at night. They avoid people, and therefore wolves are seldom seen in the wild. Wolves live as fixed couples that usually reproduce annually. The wolf pack is commonly a family unit consisting of a couple (a so-c...
The wolf is a carnivore. The availability of prey animals greatly influences its diet. It can prey on animals ranging from moles and lemmings to hares, birds, deer, reindeer and moose. Wolves primarily hunt cloven-hoofed animals, which in the coniferous forest belt usually mean moose, but they also ...
Wolves are met in northern and eastern Finland. Our wolf population is densest near the eastern border, but wandering wolves and even packs are met all over the country. The size of the territory of a wolf pack is determined by nutrition conditions and the density of wolves. In Finland the average s...
The population management plan for Finnish wolves approved in 2005 was the first of its kind. It was also the first wolf management plan to be renewed. The Finnish Wildlife Agency and Natural Resources Institute Finland worked together to create an updated management plan for wolf, which was then ap...
The views held by Finns are sometimes conflicting when it comes to the population management and conservation of large carnivores. Research has been conducted on how Finns think our large carnivore populations should be managed. This data has been collected via surveys, interviews and public meeting...
Working groups appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry propose a five-year experiment to allow wolf hunting for population management purposes if the population is at a favourable conservation status. The Ministry will assess the possibility to allow hunting after the Natural Resources...