The wolf population in Sweden is rapidly decreasing

Published 4 June 2024 at 16.01

Domestic. The result from the inventory period 2023/24 shows that there are approximately 375 wolves in Sweden. This is a decrease compared to last winter, when the inventory showed around 450 wolves.

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The wolf population in Scandinavia is inventoried annually and in the same way in Norway and Sweden. The size of the tribe is based on the number of registered family groups, territory-marking pairs and territories with yearlings, so-called rejuvenations.

The total number of wolves in Scandinavia in the winter of 2023/24 is estimated to be approximately 440 wolves, of which approximately 375 are in Sweden.

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In the spring of 2021, wolf pups were born for the first time in over 150 years in Skåne and Jönköping counties. In the spring of 2023, puppies were born in an area on the border between Kalmar and Kronoberg counties. During the winter of 2023–2024, a new pair was formed in Halland county.

Although the total number of territories in southern Sweden has not increased compared to the previous season, more counties in southern Sweden have received wolf territories. Of the counties on the mainland in the southern administrative area, only Blekinge county was not affected by any wolf territory with family group or territory-marking pair. With an increased number of territories in southern Sweden, the number of young wolves on the move also increases, and all counties except Gotland are affected by such wolves.

Inventory of wolves runs from 1 October to 31 March. During inventories, family groups, wolf pairs claiming territories and regenerations during the inventory period are recorded. The monitoring takes place with the help of tracking on snow, game cameras and DNA analyzes from urine and droppings. The total number of wolf individuals in territories as well as solitary wandering wolves is then calculated using a conversion factor.