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Report2011

Ulv i Skandinavia : statusrapport for vinteren 2010-2011

Wabakken, Petter; Aronson, Åke; Strømseth, Thomas H; Sand, Håkan; Maartmann, Erling; Svensson, Linn; Åkesson, Mikael; Flagstad, Ø; 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 2010-2011. 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 DNA-analysis and radio-telemetry. The estimate was restricted to the period of October 1, 2010 – February 28, 2011. 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 289-325 wolves were estimated on the Scandinavian Peninsula during the 2010-2011 winter. Among these, 31 packs included 183-189 wolves, and 57-61 wolves belonged to 27-30 scent-marking pairs. The majority of the wolves (235-266) were located in Sweden, of which 149-154 were members of 25 packs, 43-44 lived in 20-22 scent-marking pairs, 4 were classified as “other resident wolves”, and 39-64 were classified as “other wolves”. Of the 32-34 wolves restricted to Norway, 18-19 were members of 3 packs, 8 were scent-marking pair members, one was classified as “other resident wolves”, and 5-6 were classified as “other wolves”. Another 22-25 resident wolves lived in 6-7 packs or scent-marking pairs in territories covering areas on both sides of the Swedish-Norwegian border. Successful reproduction in spring 2010 was confirmed in 31 of the Scandinavian wolf territories. Among these, 25 litters were born in Sweden, 3 litters were born in transboundary packs, and 3 litters grew up in Norway. In 2010, two Finnish-Russian male wolves reproduced for the third time, one litter in Sweden (the Galven territory) and one in Norway (the Kynna territory). In Finland, during the winter 2010-11, a total of 48 wolves in 8 packs were estimated to have exclusively Finnish territories. In addition 59-64 wolves were pack members within 11 territories across the Finnish-Russian border

Keywords

wolf; monitoring; Scandinavia; population size; distribution; reproduction

Published in

Oppdragsrapport / Høgskolen i Hedmark
2011,
ISBN: 978-82-7671-851-5
Publisher: Högskolan i Hedmark