2017 could be a fatal year for wolves in Norway. The Norwegian government has announced a plan to kill two-thirds of its wild wolf population. People all over the country, and outside its borders, are now reacting.

The last count showed just 68 individual wolves. Of these, 47 from a population of 68 Norwegian wolves are up for slaughter in 2017. The government is justifying the killing, which is the largest planned since 1911, by claiming it is to control and minimize harm done to sheep, at the behest of the farmers who exploit them. The suggested plan is for 24 wolves to be shot within a part of Norway that is actually designated wolf habitat, with another 23 wolves to be killed across other parts of the country, totaling 47 of the estimated 68 wolves.

Norway’s environmental groups say the new legal hunting limit is beyond what the current wild wolf population can stand. It was only last year that wolves were officially listed as “critically endangered” in Norway.

We agree with the environmental groups that have argued that the damage caused by such a small population is minimal and the government’s response is out of proportion and motivated by other factors.

We must stand together and show our opposition to the extermination policy that the Norwegian Parliament is planning!

Click here to take action.