Sweden starts killing 20 per cent of its brown bear population despite outcry against 'macho pride'

Sweden on Wednesday (Aug 21) began a killing spree to eliminate nearly 500 brown bears, or 20 per cent of the animal's population in the Nordic country, despite outcry by environment activists who call it more of a 'macho pride' issue than something motivated by real ecological concerns.

The brown bears can be shot dead aspart of the annual license to kill. The hunting season will go into October 15.For this season, 486 brown bears can be killed in the so-called licensed hunt.

Activists say that a centuryof conservation efforts will go to waste after campaigns and laws had brought back the population of brown bears that were once killed to near-extinction by hunters.

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The 'trophy hunt' of bears

Brown bears that number more than 3,000 in Sweden,are a strictly protected species within the European Union. Hunting them is being seen by some as a matter of 'macho pride', allege the activists.

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“There are several ways to better live side by side... by taking preventive measures to avoid damage and by using the great tourism value of bear watching as a tool for countryside development, which our neighbouring country Finland has proven to be very good at,” Euronews quoted Magnus Orrebrant, chairman of the Swedish Carnivore Association, as saying.

Measures to protect them from trophy-hunting were introduced in 1927. Over several decades since then, their population gradually grew. It wasaround 2,200 in the year 2000, andpeaked at around 3,300 in 2008.

But after the licensed hunt of 2023, the population dropped to 2,450.

Sweden’s Big Five, a conservation group, alleged thegovernment was on a clear path to cull the big carnivores to 1,400, which is the minimum number required for conservation purposes.This would represent a 60 per cent loss from the 2008 peak.

“We can absolutely not continue to shoot this many bears if we are to have a stable bear population around the 2,400 bears we have today,” says Jonas Kindberg, leader of the Scandinavian Bear research project.

Officially known as Ursus arctos, brownbears mature slowly, taking up to four years to become adults.

Kindberg noted that only a few cubs are born at a time, and that too once in two to three years.“During the hunt, it is very difficult to tell females from males, and the females are much more valuable to the population. Therefore, you risk ending up in a situation that may take a very long time to repair.”

In addition to the annual licensed hunts, brown bears are allowed to be killed in 'protective' hunts if they're considered damaging to property or threat to life.

Last year, 648 bears were shot during licensed hunting, while 74 more were killed during protective hunting.

(With inputs from agencies)