- We hope and believe that it is the right wolf that was shot in Småland yesterday, but we cannot be completely sure until we get answers to the DNA samples, says Nils Carlsson, head of the species and nature unit at the county administrative board in Skåne.
The wolf that was shot at Äsphult in Ljungby municipality on Tuesday comes from Sjundareviret, an area south of Stockholm.
Since the summer, it has attacked sheep and other domestic livestock mainly in Kronoberg, but also in northern Scania and in Halland.
Therefore, the County Administrative Board in Skåne decided on protective hunting on 7 November.
- Protective hunting of wolves is complicated because the wolf can move up to four miles in a day, moves at night and if there is no snow so you can see the tracks outside, it is difficult to spot it, says Nils Carlsson.
He says that it is also problematic for the hunters who go out into terrain that is unknown and which they have to secure so that no one gets hurt when they shoot.
The wolves in the Linderöd region
As recently as the end of last week, four sheep were killed in Killhult outside Hörby, but whether it was a new attack from the wolves in Linderödsrevired is too early to say.
- We know that in August it was a puppy last year that killed sheep, in two recent attacks it has been the male and female from the territory, but from the latest incident we have not received an answer yet, says Nils Carlsson.
More may be shot
If it turns out that one of the wolves in the territory is to blame, there may be a question of protective hunting again.
- Yes, but it is a blunt weapon to protect sheep.
Then a wolf would be shot and in the best case it would be one of the guilty wolves, but there would only be a new wolf, says Nils Carlsson.
He believes that the best way to protect the sheep is to shut the wolves out through the right fence.
- Ordinary electric fences with more wires that go low to the ground or ordinary sheep fences that go all the way down are enough for the wolves to crawl under when they hunt their prey, says Nils Carlsson.
Don't they jump?
- No, they want to crawl under.