Sweden is to cull its resurgent grey wolf population...

Sweden is to cull its resurgent grey wolf population...

Grey wolves have made a comeback since hunting was banned
Sweden is to launch its first wolf cull in 45 years, following a decision by parliament to control the species' numbers.

Some 10,000 hunters are reported to be planning to take part - hoping to get a rare opportunity to bag a wolf.

But it is thought there are only about 180-220 wolves in Sweden, and the Environmental Protection Agency has said only 27 can be shot.

Hunters insist there are measures to prevent them shooting too many.

"There's a lot of regulation, hunters have to check the quota every hour," Gunnar Gloersson, of the Swedish Hunters Association, told Radio Sweden.

Nevertheless, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is critical of the decision, claiming it is against EU legislation as the Swedish wolf population has not reached a healthy level.

A formal complaint will be issued to the EU Commission, Radio Sweden says.

The hunt will start on 2 January and end before the mating season begins in mid-February.

Culling wolf population in Sweden

Blue whale haunt found off Chilean mainland - includes nursing and feeding group...

A recent survey found a new hangout of Blue whales - the largest mammals on the planet - in the Gulf of Corcovada, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean between the southern Chilean mainland and the largest of the Chilean islands.

In 2007, 47 Blue whale groups, some including mothers and youngsters, were sighted in the above area. This was received as great news and a positive sign of an improvement in the numbers of the southern hemisphere blue whale population.

It was reported that during the first 60 years of last century commercial whaling had wiped out 97% of the southern hemisphere Blue whale population.This was noted by Rodrigo Hucke- Gaete of the Southern University of Chile in Valdidia and his survey team.

As of 2000, the International Whaling Commission(IWC) estimated that 700-1400 Blue whales remain in the southern hemisphere.It is the IWC that has been battling the Japanese whaling industry in recent months.

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