Wolves kill hundreds of reindeer in Lapland without eating them

Wolves have killed hundreds of reindeer across Finnish Lapland this summer, causing losses worth hundreds of thousands of euros, Yle reports. In many cases, the animals were barely eaten after being killed.

More than 100 reindeer have fallen victim to a wolf in Inari. At least two lone wolves have also been moving in recent weeks in western Lapland, around Ylitornio and Rovaniemi, killing dozens of reindeer. A wolf has recently been seen near Karigasniemi in Utsjoki as well.

Ilpo Kojola, emeritus research professor at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, said the behaviour was not unusual. Some wolves are more inclined to kill than others, he said.

“Killing without eating is typical of wolves when there is plenty of food,” Kojola said. Wolves may also kill several sheep while eating only one. He described wolves, like other large predators, as opportunistic.

Kojola believes the wolves in western Lapland most likely came from areas south of the reindeer herding region. Individuals from the southern wolf population in Sweden and Norway have also occasionally entered Finland.

The wolves seen in Inari and Utsjoki may have originated in northern Russia, where the wolf population has grown in recent years. Kojola stressed, however, that this was only speculation. The true origin of a wolf can be established through DNA from a recently killed animal.

All the reindeer killed by wolves in western Lapland have been adult females. Each is worth about 1,500 euros.

Tapio Vuolo, head of the Palojärvi reindeer herding cooperative, which is mainly located around Rovaniemi, said herders were dreading the autumn if the deaths continued. Hunting wolves is particularly difficult when the ground is free of snow.

“The ideal situation now would be a week of heavy snow, so the wolf could be tracked and killed,” Vuolo said.

Matti Holster, head of the Lohijärvi reindeer herding cooperative in Ylitornio, estimated that his cooperative had already suffered about 30,000 euros in financial losses. He said reindeer could not be guided away from wolves when there was no snow on the ground, and described the mood among herders as apathetic.

Hanna Nurmi, executive director of the Reindeer Herders Association, said damage caused by large predators was increasing. Predators were affecting a growing number of reindeer herding cooperatives, while compensation payments did not cover the actual losses or the costs arising from them.

In the worst cases, compensation for large predator damage is paid more than a year late. Nurmi said the state compensation system was hampered by budgets that routinely allocated too little money for predator damage, forcing officials to seek additional funding. So far, she said, the state had responded to the problem.