The County Administrative Board of Östergötland granted protection hunting of a wolf in the Långbogen district in early June. This after two calves were attacked and killed, and that, among other things, sheep were slaughtered and cattle attacked last year.

Puppies were discovered

Shortly after the protection hunt was granted, the county administrative board received a dead wolf pup and observations of three live wolf pups, which caused them, and later the county court, to make an addition to the permit for protection hunting, namely that no adult wolf was allowed to be shot. to preserve the alphatics as much as possible.

Alphatics has not had puppies this year

On the night of July 9, the hunting team with a dog tracks a wolf for more than five kilometers. They shoot the wolf, and when the analysis answers come back, it turns out that it is the alphatics that have been shot. But more striking is that the first analysis indicates that she has not given birth to any puppies this year. So the question is where the puppies come from, if it is not the alphabet that got them.

- It is most likely that it is still the alphabet even if the samples now show something else, says Mia Kjällander, game manager at the County Administrative Board in Östergötland.

Different theories

Various theories have been put forward about where the puppies come from. One is that one of last year's puppies gave birth to the yearling puppies. What speaks against it is that they have not been able to reach sexual maturity yet. It is common for wolves to become sexually mature in the second winter of their lives.

Another theory is that a wolf litter was born as early as the first year that the alpha pair formed a territory, that is, 2018. But that this would have happened, there is no evidence at all.

The puppies have never existed

A third theory is that no puppies were ever born this year.

- We have the dead wolf puppy that points out that there are puppies, and at the same time the same person saw three living puppies, says Mia Kjällander.

But the puppy that was submitted for analysis was so rotten that so far it has not been possible to obtain any DNA, so the perception that it is a wolf puppy is based on the fact that it looks like a wolf puppy.

Difficult to see the difference between puppies from different species

At Grimsö research station, which is under the auspices of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, research is done on wolves, and it is not uncommon for one of the experts to be called in to inspect animals that have been hit.

- It sometimes happens that we are asked to go out and look at a wolf puppy hit, but when we get there it is not a wolf puppy but a dog puppy or fox puppy, says Jens Frank at Grimsö research station.

- It is very difficult to see which animal puppy it is when they are small, he continues and adds that he is not familiar with the puppy that was found in Långbogenreviret.

Answer at the end of August

- Before all test answers are ready, it is not possible to say anything with certainty, says Mia Kjällander, game manager at the County Administrative Board in Östergötland.

And according to Kjällander, those answers will come at the earliest at the end of August.