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Report2010

Ulv i Skandinavia : Statusrapport for vinteren 2009-2010

Wabakken, Petter; Aronson, Åke; Stromseth, Thomas; Sand, Håkan; Maartmann, Erling; Svensson, Linn; Flagstad, Oystein; Hedmark, Eva; Liberg, Olof; kojola, ilpo

Abstract

The wolves in Sweden and Norway are members of a joint Scandinavian wolf population. In a combined Swedish-Norwegian monitoring project, wolves on the Scandinavian Peninsula were located and counted during the winter of 2009-2010. In Sweden, County administrative boards perform the fieldwork and collection of field data (snow-tracking, DNA-samples), whereas the Wildlife Damage Center (VSC) at Grimsö Research Station was responsible for evaluating and summarizing the results of the wolf monitoring. In Norway, wolf biologists at Hedmark University College and a genetist at Rovdata (Trondheim) in cooperation with the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate (SNO) were responsible for the monitoring of resident and non-resident wolves, respectively. Furthermore, cooperative wolf pack monitoring has been carried out in Fennoscandia in collaboration with Finland. A large number of volunteers and organizations such as hunting associations in both countries and the Swedish Carnivore Association also report observations and participate in wolf monitoring activities. The estimated number of wolves in Scandinavia is mainly based on long distances of ground tracking on snow, but also by radio-telemetry and DNA-analysis. The estimate was restricted to the period of October 1, 2009 – February 28, 2010. To guarantee the quality of the reports used, the majority have been checked in the field by the project, or by other personnel with experience of ground tracking wolves on snow. Wolves were classified as 1) family groups (packs), 2) scent-marking pairs, 3) other resident wolves, or 4) other wolves. The results were presented as minimum-maximum numbers where the minimum was exclusively based on confirmed field-checked reports, while the maximum also included other reports. A total of 252-291 wolves were estimated on the Scandinavian Peninsula during the 2009-2010 winter. Among these, 28 packs included 165-175 wolves, and 44-49 wolves belonged to 21-24 scent-marking pairs. The majority of the wolves (186-215) were located in Sweden. Of the 33-39 wolves restricted to Norway, 21-23 were members of 3 packs, 6 were scent-marking pair members, none were classified as “other resident wolves”, and 6-10 were classified as “other wolves”. Areas were utilized on both sides of the national border between Sweden and Norway by 33-37 resident wolves. Successful reproduction in the spring of 2009 was confirmed in 26 of the Scandinavian wolf territories. Among these, 19 litters were born in Sweden, 4 litters was born in a transboundary packs, and 3 litters grew up in Norway. In 2009, two Finnish-Russian male wolves reproduced for the second time, one litter in Sweden (the Galven territory) and one in Norway (the Kynna territory). In Finland, during the winter 2009-10, a total of 76-78 wolves in 15 packs were estimated to have exclusively Finnish territories. In addition 72-74 wolves were pack members within 13 territories across the Finnish-Russian border

Published in

Oppdragsrapport / Høgskolen i Hedmark
2010,
ISBN: 978-82-7671-803-4
Publisher: Högkoland i Hedmark