At the beginning of July, the county administrative board decided that protection hunting for the swan would begin, and now the swan has been shot. The reason for the protection hunt was that the eider is an endangered bird species that this year went from being "vulnerable" to "highly endangered". The swan is shot by a local hunter.
It has previously been estimated that the swan killed about a hundred eider cubs last year.
- This swan has actively sought out eider litters and chased them and bitten the cubs to death, says Åke Andersson, chairman of the hunting and animal welfare association at Stora Karlsö to P4.
Eider's future on Stora Karlsö is threatened. A bird count in June counted 334 females - but only 16 chicks. The County Administrative Board therefore justifies the hunt by saying that the interest in protecting the eider on the island outweighs protecting the aggressive swan.