Wildlife experts claim that as many as 25 wolves are disappearing every year and the fledgling wolf population in Norway has stagnated. They suspect illegal hunting is to blame.

Wolves like this one spotted near Elverum in 2002 spread fear among sheep ranchers and local residents.

Researchers tracking efforts to bring back the wolf from near-extinction in Norway estimate that less than 40 wolf pups born in southern Sweden and Norway every year survive past a half-year. But even that modest growth in the wolf population doesn't seem to last.

A majority of the young wolves seem to mysteriously disappear. From an estimated net growth of 25 wolves a year in the 1990s, it's now stagnated.

"A wolf population with access to enough food doesn't simply come to a halt without a reason," researcher Petter Wabakken at the College of Hedmark told newspaper Aftenposten. "We're left with illegal hunting as the most important reason for the stagnation."

Both of Norway's national TV stations are highlighting the issue this week. Commercial station TV2 reported that a secret network of anti-wolf activists has shot as many as 120 wolves in the border area between Sweden and Norway over the past 20 years.

On Tuesday, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) was also set to air a documentary about alleged illegal wolf hunts.

"We know that illegal hunts have existed as far back as 1965," says Wabakken. "Their frequency has increased, and appears to have changed the wolves' development."

Via Aftenposten News in English.

Environment [12:26]