Large Wolf Family Has Settled in Stockholm County

Stockholm County now has a large wolf family. Two adult wolves and six pups have settled in the Norrtälje area, and now the County Administrative Board has formally established that this is a new wolf territory.

The territory has been named the Bornan territory after a lake northwest of Älmsta and may extend from Väddö and into Uppsala County. For sheep owners, dog owners, and other locals, this means that an entire wolf family is now roaming the forests near their farms and communities.

For several years, the County Administrative Board had been tracking a lone wolf in the northern parts of the municipality. This winter, it was discovered that the wolf had company, and the authority suspected it was a pair.

However, the wolves only started moving together at the end of the winter tracking season, so there wasn’t enough evidence to confirm they had established a territory.

The County Administrative Board therefore set up wildlife cameras, and in mid-August, this paid off. A camera along a forest road north of Norrtälje filmed six pups walking together.

According to DNA analyses, both parents are from Västmanland County, wrote the County Administrative Board in the press release presenting the pups. The authority will not disclose the location of the recording, as the site is protected under the species protection regulation.

Only now, after the official inventory of wolves and lynx began on October 1 and the observations have been quality-assured, can the County Administrative Board confirm that this is a new territory, wildlife officer Mikael Fransson told Norrtelje Tidning.

The authority does not know how large the family is today. It is unclear if all six pups are still alive, and there could be more that were never caught on camera.

From Väddö into Uppsala County

The territory is named after Lake Bornan, a few kilometers northwest of Älmsta, where wolf tracks have been verified. The exact area that the family roams will be determined in March, when the inventory is finished. Fransson believes it covers an area from Väddö and into Uppsala County.

Already last winter, the pair moved from Väddö past Hallstavik and further west across the county border, according to Norrtelje Tidning. Älmsta, Väddö, and the areas around Hallstavik are thus at the center or near the area where the wolf family is expected to roam, though exact borders are not yet known.

Wolves have also been sighted in the area this year. In early August, the County Administrative Board confirmed a wolf sighting at Lundåsvallen in Häverödal, just south of Hallstavik. At the end of May, several lambs and one ewe were killed in a wolf attack at a farm in Edebo, in the same part of the municipality, reported Allt om Norrtälje. Exactly which wolf was responsible has not been established.

Over the past year, the public has reported 134 wolf sightings in Norrtälje municipality, of which the County Administrative Board confirmed 80 as genuine wolf sightings, according to information compiled by SVT. This week, the County Administrative Board also released, for the first time, a film of a howling wolf in the Bornan territory.

The Authority Reassures, Animal Owners Advised to Fence

The County Administrative Board’s message to residents of Roslagen is that there is no need for concern. Mikael Fransson told the local newspaper that making a little noise is enough to scare away the wolves.

“There is no need to worry. The public can continue enjoying the forests and land as usual. If you make a bit of noise, you are guaranteed not to encounter any predators,” he said.

At the same time, the authority itself expects that the wolves will be noticed in the rural areas. According to Fransson, wolves follow a kind of yearly cycle. Autumn tends to be calm, but in April and May last year’s pups leave the territory.

The young wolves are often curious and may show up in communities. After a calmer summer, a new wave of young wolves moves out in September, displaying the same behavior.

For those with sheep and goats, it is not enough to go on as usual. Fransson says wolves are relatively easy to fence out and refers to the County Administrative Board’s free advisory service on fencing.

In practice, the responsibility for keeping the wolf family out of pastures falls on the individual animal owner. After the attack in Edebo, Fransson concluded that almost all attacks occur where animals lack fencing on all four sides, often in pastures that are open to water.

The County Administrative Board also advises dog owners to keep their dogs leashed and cat owners to keep their cats indoors or under supervision.

The Bornan territory is the county’s second wolf territory after the Sjunda territory near Södertälje, and since a lone wolf is also roaming in Tyresta National Park, there are now wolves in three places in Stockholm County for the first time.