Sweden to kill 20% of its brown bears in annual hunt

A Swedish brown bear in its natural habitat. Conservationists argue that the hunting quotas are in breach of EU law. Photograph: Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock

Sweden has issued licences to kill 20% of its brown bear population in the country’s annual bear hunt, which begins today, despite concerns from conservationists.

Officials have granted licences for just under 500 brown bears to be culled by hunters. That equates to about 20% of the total population, according to official figures, and would bring the number of bears in Sweden down to approximately 2,000 – a drop of almost 40% since 2008.