Southeastern Finland’s few wolves are unlikely to curb African swine fever

Wolves are not currently a significant check on wild boar numbers in southeastern Finland, limiting their potential to slow African swine fever, a researcher at the Natural Resources Institute Finland told Yle.

Researchers disagree on whether wolves can slow the disease’s spread. In a Yle column in late September, science journalist and environmental ecology docent Mia Rönkä criticised quota-based wolf hunting and argued that there are too few wolves in the areas affected by African swine fever to reduce or drive away wild boar.

Natural Resources Institute Finland special researcher Mia Valtonen said the wolf population in southeastern Finland was already small before quota hunting began. The region has not had an established wolf population large enough to limit wild boar numbers through predation, she said. Wild boar numbers in the area, by contrast, have been among the highest in Finland.

There is no Finnish research data on how much wild boar contributes to wolves’ diet. Valtonen said wild boar can be difficult prey, particularly adult animals, and wolves often choose easier prey such as roe deer or white-tailed deer.

Valtonen said wolves could affect wild boar numbers if their population were large enough. In southeastern Finland, wild boar numbers have primarily been controlled through hunting.

In March, the Natural Resources Institute Finland estimated there were about 430 wolves across the country. Valtonen said there were two wolf territories in South Karelia and Kymenlaakso: in Savitaipale and Pyhtää.

Last winter, hunters killed five wolves and two wolf-dog hybrids in southeastern Finland. Across the country, they killed 81 wolves and five hybrids. Valtonen said quota hunting in the region targeted hybrids, whose removal is legally required because they are an invasive alien species. No quota hunt is planned there next season because no new hybrid samples have been found.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has proposed hunting 109 wolves outside the reindeer herding area next season. The proposal does not include areas where wolf-dog hybrids would be targeted for removal. Finland had an estimated 2,380 wild boar at the start of January; the next population estimate is due in February.