307 wolves to be allowed to be hunted in the coming season
The wolf hunting season, which is about to start, is planned to allow the hunting of 307 of these animals – 34 fewer predators than a year ago.
This is foreseen in the draft order of the Minister of Environment.
In order to ensure that wolves are hunted in proportion to their natural abundance, it has been decided to do away with the distribution of the hunting limit for these animals by municipalities or hunting areas.
The wolf hunting season will start on 15 October and run until 31 March next year.
When the limit is exhausted, the hunting season will be terminated earlier by order of the Minister of the Environment.
„Hunting wolves within the set limit will allow to reduce the damage caused by wolves to farm animals while maintaining a favourable conservation status for wolves“, – the explanatory note of the project states.
The limit on the hunting of these animals is set according to the number of their families living in Lithuanian forests.
According to new data, there are at least 82 families of wolves living in the territory of Lithuania.
„Taking into account the provisions of the Wolf Conservation Plan on wolf population management objectives and the fact that the number of individual wolf families (82) exceeds the upper limit of the wolf population management objective, in order to reduce and maintain a stable wolf population within the range of 32 & 62 families, it is proposed to approve a limit of 307 wolf hunts during the 2025 & 2026 hunting season, “, “ the Explanatory Memorandum states.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the damage caused by wolves to farm animals has remained relatively high in recent years.Last year, €131,000 had been paid out by mid-September, compared to nearly €113,000 in compensation to livestock farmers the year before.
During the last wolf hunting season 326 animals were shot. The limit set by the Minister was not reached then – 341 wolves.
The wolf is a protected species both in the European Union and in many other countries.
Lithuania is obliged by its international obligations to ensure a favourable conservation status for this species, which is why the hunting of wolves is restricted not only by setting a time limit for hunting but also by setting a limit on the number of wolves that can be hunted.
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