Unlawful Hunting of Large Carnivores in Sweden 1

Shoot shovel and sanction yourself: Self-policing as a response to wolf poaching among Swedish hunters

“…These teams provide a context where social forces of self-policing are intuitively relevant, and hunting teams and clubs are prevalent internationally including most of the EU and the eastern portions of United States. Second, illegal killing of wolves has emerged as a global phenomenon ranging from Nordic nations to Afghanistan (Hagstedt and Korsell 2012;Bashari et al 2018). We acknowledge, however, that despite these shared patterns in hunting teams and killing of wolves, there are many unique interest groups among hunters.…”

“…With the inclusion of Sweden and Finland in the EU in 1995 and subsequent ratification of the Habitats Directive, wolf conservation became an international conservation priority in the region. The growing and protected populations of wolves began upsetting rural people in the 1990s and tensions escalated, culminating in illegal killing of wolves (Hagstedt and Korsell 2012), protests against the governance regime (von Essen et al 2015), and the disillusionment of rural residents over suffering consequences of urban-based environmental schemes (Epp and Whitson 2001). Against a historical background of intense persecution of wolves in the Nordic countries, the EU politics represented a break in continuity and threat to the countryside in the eyes of hunters in particular (Bisi et al 2010).…”

‘Not the Wolf Itself’: Distinguishing Hunters’ Criticisms of Wolves from Procedures for Making Wolf Management Decisions

“…. ..' Indeed, the literature shows that all across Europe, even wolves who are technically in the 'right areas' legally and geographically have their right to domicile forfeit because they are regarded as illegal immigrants in this particular place (Von Essen & Allen, 2016): secretly released or accidentally contaminating the national stock of wolves with its foreign DNA (Drenthen, 2015;Ghosal et al, 2015;Hagstedt & Korsell, 2012;Theodorakea & Von Essen, 2016;Tønnessen, 2010;Von Essen, 2015). In the Nordic countries, the 'true' and 'natural' Swedish or Finnish wolf is actually spoken of with reverence by hunters as belonging to the local landscape, but the current individuals are seen as immigrants from the east that cannot be tolerated (Bergström et al, 2015).…”

“…This so-called 'zoo hypothesis' (Ghosal et al, 2015) and the charge of genetic hybridity (and impurity) against wolves (Von Essen, 2015) presently serve to potently sever the wolf's right to exist as a species from any actual co-existence on the ground. The narrative is endemic to most of Europe (Hagstedt & Korsell, 2012;Skogen et al, 2008;Theodorakea & Von Essen, 2016). It tends to emphasize wolves' loss of "timidity toward humans" and general unpredictability by derogating from expectations of a species norm (Bisi & Kurki, 2008, p. 108).…”

Wildlife Crime: A Crime of Hegemonic Masculinity?

“…Important decisions concerning their lives and livelihoods are made centrally, such as those concerning the protection of endangered species that may make their sheep-herding difficult, in addition to depriving them of their traditional "right" to hunt with a dog because the wolves may constitute a risk to the free running dogs (Skogen 2001). As discussed by Von Essen et al (2014), the illegal killing of endangered predators may thus be a crime of dissent, a response to being disempowered by central authorities (see also Hagstedt and Korsell 2012;Nurse 2015). However, more than a crime of dissent, it is also an expression of hegemonic masculinity whereby the act of violence constituted by the hunt represents a means to a sensation of regaining control, in a life situation in which they feel disempowered.…”