Wolf kills more than 120 reindeer in Inari as damage exceeds €250,000

More than 120 reindeer have been killed by a wolf in the Muddusjärvi reindeer herding cooperative in Inari this summer, with damage across the municipality estimated at nearly €258,000, Yle reported.

The wolf has been killing reindeer in the cooperative for three months. Most of the victims have been female reindeer, leaving many calves orphaned.

“Every day, when driving to check the reindeer, we find new carcasses. This is impossible,” said Osmo Seurujärvi, the cooperative’s chief herder.

Another wolf has caused problems in the Sallivaara reindeer herding cooperative in western Inari. It entered a reindeer enclosure while the animals were being gathered for calf marking and killed nearly 20 reindeer within two days.

Although the wolf has not been seen for about two weeks, Sallivaara chief herder Iisko-Henrik Näkkäläjärvi believes it is still moving among the reindeer.

“You are afraid when a wolf comes during the snowless season. It is the worst predator. The wolf does not even eat, it only kills,” Näkkäläjärvi said.

Wolf population has increased, Wildlife Agency says

According to the Finnish Wildlife Agency, the wolf population has grown throughout Finland, including in the reindeer herding region. Quota hunting began outside the reindeer herding region last winter, slowing the population’s growth there.

There is no quota hunting in the reindeer herding region. Hunting permits are instead granted on the basis of damage.

The DNA of wolves examined in the reindeer herding region is unknown, and they are therefore suspected of having come from Russia, said Kai-Eerik Nyholm, a large carnivore planning officer at the Finnish Wildlife Agency.

Nyholm said the number of wolves arriving from Russia has increased in recent years since Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine.

“Although a significant number of wolves are shot in the reindeer herding region each year under exceptional permits issued because of damage, substantial numbers of new wolves enter the region during the spring and early summer. This causes extensive reindeer damage during the summer, and the phenomenon has continued for a long time,” Nyholm said.

Wolf hunting is difficult

The Muddusjärvi and Sallivaara cooperatives have received exceptional permits to hunt wolves, and the hunts are under way.

Herders from neighbouring cooperatives have also joined the hunt in Muddusjärvi. Seurujärvi said the rules make the hunt unnecessarily difficult: only 10 people may hunt at the same time, and hunting dogs cannot be used.

“There should be permission to use every possible method,” he said.

The exceptional permit expires after one month, after which it must be reapplied for and paid for again.

Nyholm said he understood the herders’ concerns about the difficulty of hunting wolves. He said authorities should consider ways to make wolf hunting more effective during the snowless season, before greater damage occurs.

Although permits issued because of damage allow a wide range of otherwise prohibited hunting methods, hunting in remote wilderness areas remains extremely difficult, Nyholm said. Wolves are highly active and can travel dozens of kilometres a day.

Damage costs the state hundreds of thousands

The estimated wolf damage in the reindeer herding cooperatives of Inari municipality has reached almost €258,000. In addition to the financial losses, the wolves create extra work for herders, who must spend considerable time and fuel searching for carcasses.

“It is unpleasant for a herder when wolves kill reindeer that should provide meat and income. Some compensation is available, but it is quite small compared with a good female reindeer that carries calves for many years,” Seurujärvi said.