The case summed up The sheep farmers in Hattfjelldal, Nordland, experience that bears create problems for sheep farming. Over 20 sheep carcasses with injuries from bears have been documented in Grane, Hattfjelldal and Saltdal. The state administrator will not allow the felling of the bear, as it has been politically decided that there will be bears in the area. The farmers believe that there is no room for both bears and sheep, and that predator management is not balanced. The state administrator in Nordland recognizes that the solution is not good, and is looking at alternative solutions to support agriculture. Sheep farmer Niels-Henrik Andresen in Hattfjelldal hopes for changes in management. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – The whole gang suddenly appeared. It is probably because they have been chased by the teddy bear. Then they come home, says farmer Niels-Henrik Andresen in Hattfjelldal in Nordland. This summer it has happened many times. Suddenly the sheep, who are actually on the mountain, come home to the farm. That, the farmer says, means that the teddy bear is nearby all the time. The bear probably tore off the udder of this ewe three days before she was found. Photo: Nils Henrik Andresen / private SNO has documented damage by bears on over 20 sheep carcasses in Grane, Hattfjelldal and Saltdal. Nevertheless, the State Administrator will not let them kill the bear. Why? Because it has been politically determined that there will be bears in the area. But the farmers think there is no room for both bears and sheep. – Unable to balance management Ever since they released the sheep this spring, they have found carcasses. They have even found a bear den. According to the farmers, this has meant that they lose one sheep a day to bears. – He just swore and let the sheep go on afterwards. It’s special stuff. This is what is left of Jura for one of the sheep of the farmers in Grane. Last year they lost 270 animals, but they only found around 25 carcasses. The reason is that the grazing area is large and that visibility is poor in several places Photo: Nils Henrik Andresen / Private – What is it like to be a sheep farmer in the region? – Being a sheep farmer is the best job in the world. It is therefore a shame that they are unable to balance predator management. Niels-Henrik Andresen in Hattfjelldal in Nordland believes that a lot could have been solved if they had had a quick removal of pests such as bears and good compensation schemes for the farmers. He doesn’t think they have that today. This is a picture of a udder. The farmer says that they received a report about a ewe that had jumped across the road right in front of a car. “Suddenly she simply lost her right,” says Andresen. Photo: Steinar Sirijord / private – The payment of the compensation would also have been reduced if one had taken out the one teddy bear that walks around here and makes noise, he believes. The state administrator in Nordland: – The solution is not good In 2023, 178 different bears were detected in Norway, but only one male bear in Nordland, according to NINA. Tore Vatne, section leader in the State Administrator in Nordland, says that the goal in Nordland is one annual cub of bears. Then the region needs many more than just one bear. – We are far from that goal, he says. Tore Vatne, section leader in the Statsforvaltaren in Nordland, says they cover losses of 60-70 per cent of the sheep that are applied for. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news This is part of a two-fold objective. Because there must also be low losses of livestock. Vatne says that around 3,000 sheep in Nordland are replaced a year. A total of 170,000 animals graze. – We must assess whether the loss situation is so extensive that it is right to allow the felling of perhaps the only bear we have. We haven’t been there this summer, says Vatne. A female has cubs every four years. If Nordland is to have a litter of bear cubs a year, both young and adult bears of both sexes are needed. Photo: Torgeir Beck Lande / news – Is there room for both bears and sheep in these areas? – The aim is that we should have some areas for grazing animals and some for game of prey. We have tried to achieve that in Nordland, but with a long and narrow county it is difficult, he says and adds: – So the solution we have in Nordland is not good. No one seems to think so. Vatne says it is a challenge for democracy how to weigh these concerns against each other. In the past, permits they have given to trap bears have been overturned by the Norwegian Environment Agency. – There are strong management signals that we are taking with us this year, says Vatne. This is the Norwegian Environment Agency’s response to the criticism: Senior adviser Susanne Hanssen responds: The section leader in the Norwegian State Administrator says that they have previously experienced that permits they have given to kill bears have been appealed and withdrawn by the Norwegian Environment Agency. Is this common practice? The Norwegian Environment Agency is the appeal body for decisions made by state administrators in the field of wild game. It is not often that we change decisions. The state administrators have a demanding job of finding the balance between the care of grazing animals on the one hand and the national population targets for predatory game species on the other. Our task is to make an independent assessment of each case, and in individual cases it may therefore be appropriate to review the first instance. One aim of the complaint handling is to ensure that the state administrators interpret the regulations in the same way and that there is a uniform administrative practice based on the regulations. Is this a review of local administration? In all areas of society, it is the case that individual decisions made by an administrative body can be overturned or changed by a superior body. It follows from the Public Administration Act. The section leader says that the solution for Nordland is not good, the county is too narrow to have areas for both grazing animals and game of prey. What do they think about this? Yes, Nordland’s geography is somewhat challenging. This is one of the reasons why the Storting has defined such a low population target of one annual brood. Other regions in Norway have higher targets. The Storting has also determined that a geographically differentiated game management plan must be laid down in each management plan, which means that each region must have areas where game is prioritized and other areas where grazing animals are prioritized. This is also feasible for Nordland, but the current management plan does not work as intended. The alternative is, as now, that the threshold for felling bears must be set high regardless of which bear appears. It is not predictable for the pasture farmers. Are they, like the state administrator in Nordland, worried that this will mean that there will be fewer farmers in Nordland? The Norwegian Environment Agency does not have an overview of the development in the number of uses in Nordland, the Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture has this. We are not aware that there is any knowledge of what are the underlying reasons for any changes in the number of people in use. In general, losses to wild game have decreased in the last 15 years, as stated by Rovbase (https://www.rovbase.no/erstatning/sau). It is a common goal for the administration to achieve the double goal setting in wild game management, where care for both grazing and wild game is taken care of. – Can’t rule out more bears in the area. Øyvind Skogstad of the State Nature Inspectorate in Nordland (SNO) says that last year they were able to prove that there was only one bear in the area. – This year, we cannot rule out if there is more than one bear in the area. This year, as last year, they collect hair and dirt samples every time they get a tip about a bear. Analysis results this year will come during the winter. – Among other things, the bear in Saltdal is probably another bear, says Skogstad. Øyvind Skogstad in ¨Statens naturoppsyn (SNO) says that they are taking samples from all places where carcasses, dirt or hair from bears have been reported in order to find out how many bears there are in Nordland this year. Photo: The state administrator in Nordland Andresen thinks it is a problem that they cannot verify the work that the State Nature Inspectorate and the State Administrator do. In addition, he believes that the measures introduced are too bad. – So it’s actually a really bad job by the State Administrator with predator management. For the farmers, much of the challenge lies in the fact that their documentation is not believed, says Andresen. If the farmers can document damage to the sheep’s nose or back in addition to damage to the sheep, it is more likely that it will be approved as damage caused by a bear. Photo: Steinar Sirijord / Private Several torn udders have not been documented as damage by bears. It is not enough. But if the bear has also bitten the nose, it will be documented. – There is no one else that multiplies the udder in the same way as a bear, says the farmer. Providing fodder allowance Vatne in the State Administrator in Nordland understands that the situation is frustrating for the farmers, but says that their role in democracy is to ensure that the politicians’ decisions are implemented. He says that they are also concerned that there will be fewer farmers in Nordland. They are therefore looking at alternative solutions to facilitate agriculture. They spend about 10 million kroner on that. – Now we use means that farmers are allowed to harvest the animals earlier and get a subsidy for feed instead, says Vatne and adds that the percentage of sheep losses has decreased in recent years. Andresen says that it is a tough job for the farmer to kill sheep with torn udders. Nine of the carcasses were found this year in Grane, nine were found in Hattfjelldal and two in Saltdal. Photo: Steinar Sirijord / Private Even if the farmer in Hattfjelldal has lost a sheep to a bear both this year and last year, he is not giving up quite yet. He loves his job. – We have to believe that someone will wake up in the end, either the politicians or the administration or both, says Andresen. Published 07.09.2024, at 20.26
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Bjørn in Grane has attacked 20 sheep – the farmers are not allowed to shoot him – news Nordland
