Legal action to curb wolf poaching in Finland

30.4.2010

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3329/10
by Satu Hassi (Verts/ALE) and Sirpa Pietikäinen (PPE)
to the Commission

The endangered Finnish wolf population is continuing to dwindle. The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (RKTL) has updated its estimate of wolf numbers in Finland. According to the RKTL, the wolf population has dropped to as low as 150-160, whereas it was estimated only last year to number more than 200. Over the past three years it has fallen by nearly 100.

The RKTL maintains that the slump in the population is still due solely to poaching. The decline consequently suggests that poaching has been increasing unremittingly. This trend has continued even though the Commission, as well as Finnish nature conservation organisations, has repeatedly called for stronger measures to stamp out poaching. In the main, hunting offences go undetected in Finland, and the punishments imposed are mild.

When it replied to our Written Question E-3765/09, tabled on 15 July 2009, the Commission expressed its dissatisfaction with the trend regarding the Finnish wolf population. It promised, however, that it would keep a close watch on developments and would not hesitate to take appropriate legal steps if the situation showed no signs of improving.

In the light of the latest information, does the Commission consider that legal steps need to be taken in order to save the Finnish wolf population?

OJ C 138 E, 07/05/2011