Man sentenced to suspended imprisonment for killing wolverine in Salla, Finland

A man from Lapland was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment for the brutal killing of a wolverine in 2020. The incident took place in Salla, where the man pursued the wolverine on a snowmobile over considerable distances before ultimately running it over. He also shot at the animal, which eventually died by drowning after the man submerged it in a hole in the ice.

The man appealed the conviction to the Court of Appeal, seeking to have the charges dismissed. However, the appellate court upheld the original ruling, finding it implausible that an unidentified person had borrowed the man’s snowmobile without permission, then washed it and the accompanying transport box, making technical modifications afterward.

The wolverine is a protected species in Finland, although the Finnish Wildlife Agency can issue special permits for hunting. The court convicted the man of a serious hunting offense, noting that the crime was carried out in a particularly brutal and cruel manner, warranting a prison sentence. Nevertheless, as the man had no prior convictions, he received a suspended sentence.

In addition to the suspended sentence, he was fined a total of €1,470 through 70 daily fines and received a five-year hunting ban. He was also ordered to compensate the state €12,000 for the unlawfully killed wolverine, which was described as a healthy adult male. The total legal fees for the man amounted to approximately €8,000.